REESE  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

r~JWt**t_.  ,'8c>J. 

/     .   Class  No. 


STATE  EDUCATION 


FOR  THE  PEOPLE 


IN 


America,  Europe,  India,  and  Australia 


WITH  PAPERS  ON 


The   Education  of  Women,  Technical   Instruction,  and 
Payment  by   Results 


f\ 

.u  :'.<..'  > 


SYRACUSE;  N.  Y. 

C.    W.    BARDEEN,   PUBLISHER 

1895 


Copyright,  1895,  by  C.  W.  BABDEBN 


;      0 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY  vii 

PART 

I.— ANCIENT  CIVILISATION  AND  MODERN  EDUCATION- 
INDIA.  By  SIR  WILLIAM  WILSON  HUNTER,  K.C.S.I.,  &c., 
President  of  the  Indian  Education  Commission  I 

II.— ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  IN  ENGLAND.     By  EDWARD  M. 

HANCE,  LL.  B. ,  Clerk  to  the  Liverpool  School  Board  25 

III.— STATE  EDUCATION  IN  SCOTLAND  -    44 

IV.— NATIONAL  EDUCATION  IN  IRELAND  56 

V.— THE  ENGLISH  AND  CONTINENTAL  SYSTEMS  OF  ELE- 
MENTARY EDUCATION  COMPARED  -    74 

VI.— WESTERN  STATE  EDUCATION— THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  ENGLISH  SYSTEMS  COMPARED.  By  the  Rev.  E. 
F.  M.  MACCARTHY,  M.A.,  Head  Master  of  King  Edward's  Gram- 
mar School,  Five  Ways,  Birmingham,  and  Vice-Chairman  of 
the  Birmingham  School.  Board  82 

VII.— NOTES  ON  EDUCATION  IN  CANADA  AND  AUSTRALIA. 

SAME  AUTHOR  105 

VIII.— NOTE  ON  COMMERCIAL  EDUCATION  -      1 12 

IX.— THE   EDUCATION   AND    STATUS  OF    WOMEN.    By  Mrs. 

EMILY  CRAWFORD  -  .  116 

X.— TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION;  AND  PAYMENT  ON  RE- 
SULTS. By  SIR  PHILIP  MAGNUS  183 

XL— NEW  CODE  FOR  1890  146 

XII.— EDITORIAL  SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  -      155 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  163 

INDEX  -  -      171 


STATE     EDUCATION     FOR 
THE    PEOPLE, 


INTRODUCTORY. 

No  doubt  many  persons  who  open  these  pages  will  be  surprised 
to  find  that  the  first  subject  of  which  they  treat,  is  one  of  the  most 
dry  and  hackneyed  that  could  have  been  selected,  but  a  moment's 
reflection  will  show  that  it  possesses  the  most  widespread  interest, 
and  is  of  universal  application.  In  its  modern  forms  the  question 
of  Education  enters  into  every  phase  of  human  intelligence,  and 
into  all  the  conditions  of  man's  welfare  and  prosperity.  It  nearly 
affects  religion,  war,  material  industries  and  commerce,  abstract 
science,  and  every  form  and  aspect  of  civilised  life. 

Theologians  are  wrangling  over  "  secular"  or  "  denominational," 
"  free  "  or  "  assisted  "  education ;  military  authorities  abroad  and  at 
home  are  trying  to  make  every  man  in  the  ranks  into  a  General,  or 
at  least  to  teach  him  to  comprehend  and  use  all  the  improved  arms 
and  methods  by  which  he  is  to  accomplish  the  destruction  of  his 
fellow-men ;  capitalists  and  artisans  are  watching  with  anxiety,  and 
sometimes  with  jealousy  and  apprehension,  that  "  technical  "  in- 
struction which  is  to  revolutionize  their  industries,  and  perhaps 
change  their  relative  spheres  of  influence ;  young  men  of  one 
nationality,  aided  by  superior  commercial  and  linguistic  training, 
and  by  the  modern  facilities  for  locomotion,  are  pressing  hard  upon 
the  less  highly  favoured  youths  and  men  of  other  lands,  and  are 
slowly  but  surely  supplanting  them  in  their  privileged  position. 
The  children  of  artisans  and  retail  traders,  in  increasing  numbers, 
are  joining  the  ranks  of  teachers,  investigators,  and  inventors  ; 
even  man's  helpmate,  Woman,  is  entering  the  field  as  a  rival  of  her 
lord  and  master,  whilst  whole  peoples  who  are  emerging  from  bar- 
barism, or  beginning  to  realise  the  gloom  of  idolatry  and  superstition, 
and  more  particularly  those  nations  which  are  tasting  the  first-fruits 
of  political  freedom,  are  turning  their  faces  towards  the  light  of 
Western  Education  for  mental  guidance  and  material  advancement. 


viii  STATE    EDUCATION. 

But  the  vastness  and  universal  application  of  the  subject  chosen 
renders  its  treatment  the  more  difficult,  and  all  that  it  will  be 
feasible  to  attempt  here,  is  to  sketch  as  accurately  as  possible, 
though  necessarily  in  a  superficial  manner,  certain  representative 
methods  of  education  as  they  are  practised  in  different  civilised 
countries. 

There  is  one  matter,  however,  which  needs  explanation,  and  that 
is  the  overlapping  of  some  of  the  articles  which  is  the  necessary  con- 
comitant of  their  being  the  productions  of  several  original  thinkers 
writing  on  closely  related  subjects.  The  reader  may  feel  that  he  has 
cause  to  complain  of  the  repetition  of  facts  and  opinions,  which 
would  not  have  occurred  if  the  component  parts  of  the  work  had  been 
the  products  of  a  single  pen ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
defect  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  free  play  which  the 
independent  articles  have  afforded  to  the  thoughts  and  utterances  of 
the  different  writers,  and  one  of  the  consequences  of  this  latitude 
will  be  to  make  it  clear  on  what  phases  of  the  question  there  is  a 
general  concurrence  of  opinion,  and  to  which,  therefore,  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  reader  should  direct  his  special  attention. 

We  propose  first  to  treat  of  the  influence  exerted  by  Western 
education  upon  the  destiny  of  nations  still  living  under  ancient  forms 
of  civilisation,  and  as  a  typical  illustration  we  have  selected  our  own 
great  Eastern  Dependency,  India.  Next,  we  shall  deal  with  the 
subject  as  it  presents  itself  in  the  educational  systems  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  shall  then  glance  at  and  compare  it  with  those  of 
Continental  States,  and  with  the  great  Republic  across  the  Atlantic. 
In  connection  with  the  latter  we  believe  the  reader  will  find  many 
new  and  interesting  facts  not  generally  known  to  Englishmen.  Two 
or  three  subsidiary  phases  of  the  question  will  then  be  examined, 
commercial,  technical,  and  female  education,  and  if  the  forthcoming 
Education  Code  has  been  introduced  into  Parliament  and  has 
assumed  a  sufficiently  definite  form,  an  account  of  its  main  features 
will  be  appended,  and  some  general  conclusions  on  the  whole 
subject  will  be  summarised  for  the  guidance  of  our  readers.  We 
dare  not  presume  to  hope  that  the  opinions  expressed  in  our  con- 
cluding remarks  will  meet  with  general  acceptance,  for  prejudices, 
habits  of  thought,  and  the  diversity  of  economical  considerations 
naturally  influence  the  judgment  of  readers  upon  a  question  so 
warmly  and  widely  debated  as  this  one  ;  but  we  have  endeavoured  to 
deal  with  the  subject  from  the  broadest  and  most  impartial  point  of 
view,  and  whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  we  have  no 
doubt  the  credit  will  be  conceded  to  us  of  wishing  to  further  the 
cause  of  Education,  and  of  desiring  to  facilitate  the  formation  of  a 
correct  judgment  upon  one  of  the  most  important  questions  of  this 
or  any  other  age. 


PART    I. 

ANCIENT  CIVILISATION  &  MODEEN  EDUCATION. 

INDIA. 

IN  this  article  I  shall  endeavour  to  set  forth  the  effects  of  a 
strongly- constructed  and  vigorously-enforced  system  of  Western 
instruction  upon  an  Asiatic  population.  The  experiment  has  heen 
conducted  in  India  over  so  large  an  area,  an  area  about  equal  to 
Europe  less  Russia  ;  it  has  been  applied  to  so  many  races,  geo- 
graphically neighbours,  yet  presenting  widely-separated  stages  of 
human  progress  ;  and  its  action  has  been  noted  with  such  con- 
tinuity and  care,  that  it  affords  a  unique  opportunity  for  a  scientific 
study  of  the  intellectual,  social,  and  political  results.  If  an  accurate 
record  existed  of  any  similar  experiment  throughout  the  Roman 
Empire — although  the  people  who  obeyed  that  Empire  did  not 
number  one-half  the  population  of  the  Indian  Continent — what  a 
flood  of  light  it  would  shed  on  man's  history  during  the  transition 
centuries,  when  the  old  world  was  passing  into  the  new. 

India  is  now  going  through  a  quicker  and  more  striking  metamor- 
phosis. We  sometimes  hear  its  marvellous  awakening  compared  to 
the  renaissance  of  Europe  four  hundred  years  ago.  But  in  India 
the  change  is  not  only  taking  place  on  a  greater  scale  ;  it  also  goes 
deeper.  It  derives  its  motive  power,  moreover,  not  from  the  indi- 
vidual impulse  of  isolated  men  of  genius  or  of  cultured  popes  and 
princes,  but  from  the  mighty  centralising  force  of  a  Government 
which,  as  an  engine  of  human  unification,  has  had  nothing  to  com- 
pare with  it  since  the  days  of  Imperial  Rome.  English  Rule  in 
India  is,  however,  calmly  carrying  out  processes  of  consolidation 
that  never  entered  the  brain  of  Roman  statesman  or  emperor. 
While  maintaining  a  policy  of  cold  non-interference  towards  the  rival 
religions,  the  domestic  institutions,  and  the  local  usages  of  the 
Indian  peoples,  it  is  silently  undermining  these  ancient  separatist 
influences  which  made  for  the  isolation  of  races.  It  has  created  a 
new  nexus  for  the  active  intellectual  elements  in  the  population  :  a 
nexus  which  is  beginning  to  be  recognised  as  a  bond  between  man 
and  man  and  between  province  and  province,  apart  from  the  ties  of 
religion,  of  geographical  propinquity,  or  of  caste  :  a  nexus  inter- 
woven of  three  strong  cords,  a  common  language,  common  political 
aims,  and  a  sense  of  the  power  of  action  in  common — the  products 
of  a  common  system  of  education. 

This  process  of  consolidation  has,  indeed,  become  so  apparent, 

VOL.  i.  B 


2  STATE    EDUCATION. 

even  to  passers-by,  that  the  present  danger  is  rather  to  over-estimate 
the  extent  to  which  the  change  has  taken  place,  than  to  overlook  it. 
Hasty  observers  frequently  fail  to  allow  sufficient  weight  to  two 
considerations.  First,  the  immense  mass  that  has  to  be  permeated 
before  the  whole  can  be  leavened  ;  and  second,  the  constraining 
influences  which  have  moulded,  and  are  at  this  moment  still  further 
moulding,  the  exotic  system  of  education  into  indigenous  forms. 
While,  therefore,  I  endeavour  to  clearly  state  the  effects  of  Western 
instruction  systematically  applied  to  the  Indian  population,  I  shall 
not  underrate  either  the  inertia  of  the  solid  millions  with  whom  it 
finds  itself  in  impact,  or  the  reacting  forces  of  native  customs,  native 
religions,  and  native  modes  of  life. 

The  tendency  of  some  writers  to  underrate  these  reacting  influ- 
ences operates  in  a  manner  which  they  had  not  foreseen.  The 
unquestionable  progress  of  India  during  the  past  third  of  a  century 
has  been  so  rapid,  as  to  excite  the  fears  of  many  sober-minded 
Englishmen  who  wish  well  to  the  Indian  peoples.  It  seems  to 
such  observers  that  forces  have  been  set  in  motion  in  India  which 
are  working  in  a  one-sided  direction,  and  without  the  modifying  or 
controlling  influences  which  in  Europe  have  been  found  needful  to 
guide  these  forces  to  safe  results.  They  therefore  look  with  doubt 
or  suspicion  upon  the  present  action  of  those  forces  in  India,  and 
especially  upon  their  political  developments.  Exaggeration  begets 
exaggeration,  and  while  the  more  enthusiastic  friends  of  India  over- 
estimate the  actual  progress,  by  underrating  the  counteracting  influ- 
ences ;  their  English  critics  over-estimate  the  dangers  of  that 
progress  from  precisely  the  same  cause. 

In  place  of  these  opposite  and  equally  one-sided  views,  I  shall 
endeavour  to  place  before  the  reader  an  impartial  presentment  of  the 
whole  of  the  influences  really  at  work.  He  will  perceive  that  pro- 
gress in  India  is  the  result,  not  of  any  single  and  overwhelming 
movement,  but  of  a  correlation  of  forces,  whose  complexity  and 
variety  contain  the  elements  of  check  and  countercheck  necessary  to 
the  safe  and  steady  advance  of  races.  He  will  find,  in  every  depart- 
ment of  Indian  activity,  not  only  the  inertia  of  vast  masses,  but  also 
the  conservative  opposition  of  organised  interests  and  classes.  While, 
therefore,  the  State  system  of  education  started  as  a  foreign  system, 
consciously  introduced  from  without,  it  has  been  profoundly  modified 
from  the  first,  and  is  being  still  more  profoundly  modified  at  the 
present  day  by  Native  requirements,  Native  conceptions,  and  the 
usages  of  the  Native  family  life.  And  although  the  progress  of  India, 
under  the  influence  of  that  system  of  education,  has  been  rapid 
beyond  precedent,  it  has  been  accomplished  subject  to  the  free 
action  and  reaction  of  powerful  opposing  interests,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  perpetual  inertia  which  takes  the  form  of  deliberate  slow- 
ness in  Indian  social  reforms,  of  caution  in  industrial  development, 
of  conservatism  in  political  ideas. 

In  order  to  understand  the  complex  forces  now  at  work  in  India, 
it  will  be  needful  first  to  summarise  the  main  stages  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  chief  engine  of  modern  Indian  progress — State  Education. 
Western  education  in  India,  as  a  coherent  organised  system  spread 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA  3 

over  the  whole  country,  may  be  taken  to  date  from  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote's  Despatch  of  1854.  That  Despatch,  however,  only  reared 
the  edifice  for  which  the  foundations  had  been  already  laid.  The 
encouragement  of  education  has  from  time  immemorial  formed  one 
of  the  recognised  functions  of  government  in  India.  Under  the 
Brahman  system  this  function  took  the  form  of  royal  liberality  to 
high-caste  men  of  learning.  The  Buddhist  reformation  placed  both 
education  and  religion  on  a  more  popular  basis.  The  Chinese 
traveller  in  the  seventh  century  A.D.  found  the  Buddhist  monasteries 
still  at  work,  and  discharging  man}'  of  the  duties  of  a  system  of 
public  instruction.  After  the  Muhammadan  conquest  of  India,  the 
Mosques  became  the  centres  of  educational  activity,  and  were  sup- 
ported by  imperial  or  local  grants  of  land. 

The  East  India  Company,  in  the  last  century,  succeeded  to  the 
educational  as  to  the  other  functions  of  the  Native  governments.  It 
maintained  existing  educational  endowments,  and  in  1781  Warren 
Hastings  established  the  Calcutta  Madrasa,  or  great  Muhammadan 
college  in  Bengal.  Ten  years  later  the  British  Government  founded 
arid  endowed  the  Sanskrit  College  at  Benares  for  Hindu  philosophy 
and  law.  The  Permanent  Settlement  of  1793  recognised  in  per- 
petuity the  free  grants  of  land  enjoyed  by  the  old  Hindu  and 
Muhammadan  seats  of  learning  scattered  throughout  the  British 
dominions.  Down  to  1811  the  Court  of  Directors  entertained 
proposals  for  the  establishment  of  further  institutions  on  the  strictly 
ancient  lines.  But  the  Charter  of  1813  gave  a  new  direction  to  the 
educational  activity  of  the  British  Government  of  India.  Hitherto 
its  efforts  had  been  directed  to  the  reproduction  of  the  traditional 
models  bequeathed  by  the  Native  rulers.  It  held  that  it  discharged 
its  duty  if  it  provided  the  Hindu  community  with  colleges  for  the 
study  of  the  Sastras,  and  the  Muhammadans  with  schools  for  the 
study  of  the  Kuran. 

Meanwhile  the  wishes  of  the  Native  communities  had  outstripped 
the  programme  of  the  Government.  They  were  no  longer  content 
with  the  curriculum  of  their  traditional  lore,  whether  Sanskrit  or 
Arabic.  They  desired  that  their  children  should  eat  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  Western  knowledge,  and  learn  the  English  tongue.  The 
Charter  of  1813  gave  an  impulse  to  these  new  ambitions  by  provid- 
ing that  a  sum  of  Rs.  100,000  should  be  annually  expended  on 
education  from  the  Public  Revenues.  But  it  was  not  until  ten 
years  later  that  the  Indian  Government,  under  pressure  of  Par- 
liamentary enquiries,  missionary  bodies  and  non-official  school- 
societies,  organised  measures  for  giving  effect  to  this  provision  of 
the  Charter. 

For  meanwhile  non-official  agencies  of  education  were  springing 
up  in  India,  and  were  making  their  influence  felt  upon  the  Govern- 
ment. As  far  back  as  1790  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Christian  Knowledge  opened  a  school  for  Natives  in  Southern  India, 
a  school  which  still  flourishes  as  St.  Peter's  College  at  Tanjore.  In 
the  Western  Presidency,  the  Bombay  Education  Society,  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions,  undertook  in  1815  the  education  of  the 
poor  in  the  Presidency-town  and  adjoining  districts.  In  Bengal, 

B  2 


4  STATE    EDUCATION. 

certain  wealthy  native  citizens  of  Calcutta,  in  1817,  opened  the 
Hindu  College  for  the  education  in  English  of  children  of  the  higher 
castes.  The  School  Book  Society,  established  in  the  same  year, 
undertook  the  preparation  of  class-hooks  in  English  and  the  ver- 
naculars. In  1819,  a  more  ambitious  project  was  started  by  the 
Calcutta  School  Society  for  establishing  schools,  both  English  and 
vernacular,  throughout  the  country.  At  length,  in  1823,  the  Indian 
Government,  under  the  influence  of  these  and  other  educational 
movements  among  the  non-official  community,  organised  in  Calcutta 
a  Committee  of  Public  Instruction,  composed  of  eminent  officials,, 
for  the  diffusion  and  control  of  education. 

In  this  Committee,  as  indeed  throughout  India  at  that  time,  two 
educational  parties  were  strongly  represented.  One  party  adhered 
to  the  ancient  lines  laid  down  by  the  Native  Governments  and 
desired  that  Sanskrit  and  Arabic  learning  should  form  the  staples  of 
higher  education.  The  other  party  believed  that  the  time  for  that 
old-world  learning  had  gone  by,  and  that  the  object  of  State  Educa- 
tion under  British  rule  should  be  to  impart  Western  knowledge  in 
the  English  tongue.  The  more  intelligent  classes  of  the  Natives 
took  the  latter  view.  The  Government  officials,  true  to  the  tra- 
ditional models  handed  down  from  the  Mughal  Empire,  clung  to  the 
former.  In  1824  the  Committee  of  Public  Instruction  founded  the 
Sanskrit  College  in  Calcutta,  notwithstanding  a  powerfully  signed 
memorial  of  the  leading  natives,  headed  by  Raja  Rammohan  Roy, 
who  begged  that  the  institution  might  be  for  English  and  not  for 
Sanskrit  teaching.  This  view  gradually  spread  throughout  the 
intelligent  sections  of  the  native  community,  and  at  last  enabled  it  to 
force  the  hand  of  Government.  The  Natives  were  aided  by  the 
missionary  bodies  and  non-official  school  societies,  and  before  the 
Committee  of  Public  Instruction  had  been  at  work  for  twelve  years,, 
the  native  view  of  the  extreme  importance  of  English  teaching  had 
prevailed.  Macaulay's  famous  Minute  in  1835  merely  put  an  end  to 
the  deadlock  to  which  the  obstinacy  of  certain  of  the  officials  in  the 
Committee  had  given  rise.  But  before  Macaulay  set  foot  in  India 
native  opinion  had  declared  so  strongly  for  English  teaching,  in 
place  of  the  old  traditional  learning,  that  Macaulay's  eloquent 
Minute  merely  played  the  part  of  the  shout  at  which  the  walls 
of  Jericho  fell.  The  memorial  of  the  Native  community  in  Calcutta 
in  favour  of  an  English  rather  than  a  Sanskrit  College  in  1823  had 
at  length  borne  its  fruits  ;  and  it  is  important  to  observe  that,  from 
the  very  commencement,  State  Education  in  India  has  been  power- 
fully, although  at  first  slowly,  influenced  by  Native  views  and  Native 
wishes.  From  the  first,  too,  there  had  been  a  powerful  conservative 
party  among  the  Indians  themselves  who  clung  to  their  traditional 
past,  and  a  growing  party  of  progress  who  looked  forward  to  the 
British  future. 

The  decision,  in  1835,  in  favour  of  English  Teaching,  as  the 
medium  of  Public  Instruction  in  India,  was,  however,  a  decision 
arrived  at  on  a  false  issue.  The  true  alternative  was  not  as  between 
the  classical  languages  of  India,  and  English,  but  as  between 
English,  the  Indian  classical  languages,  and  the  Indian  vernaculars. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  5 

This  had  become  apparent  to  the  native  leaders  and  to  the  mission- 
aides,  even  before  1835.  About  that  }rear  Mr.  Adam  drew  up  his 
admirable  report  upon  the  indigenous  village  schools  of  Bengal,  and 
four  years  later  the  Governor- General  reconsidered  and  expanded 
the  decision  of  1835  upon  the  broader  lines  indicated  by  Mr.  Adams' 
report.  In  1839,  Lord  Auckland  laid  down  the  three  principles 
which  have  since  regulated  State  Education  in  India.  First,  that 
existing  institutions  for  the  study  of  the  classical  Indian  languages 
and  ancient  literature  of  India  should  be  kept  up  in  full  efficiency. 
Second,  that  English-teaching  institutions  should  be  established  for 
education  in  European  literature,  philosophy,  and  science,  with 
English  as  the  medium  of  instruction.  Third,  that  in  the  lower 
schools,  the  vernaculars  of  India  should  be  combined  with  English, 
and  that  provision  should  be  made  for  teaching  in  both. 

On  the  basis  thus  laid  down  in  1839,  considerable  progress  was 
made  during  the  next  fifteen  years.  But  it  gradually  became 
apparent  that  even  this  broader  basis  was  not  a  sufficiently  solid  one 
for  the  effective  education  of  India.  A  necessity  for  penetrating  still 
deeper  made  itself  felt,  and  enlightened  men  in  India  determined  to  go 
to  the  root  of  the  matter  by  taking  the  vernacular  schools  as  the  founda- 
tion of  Public  Instruction.  Among  the  foremost  of  such  men,  Mr. 
Thomason  will  ever  be  honourably  remembered.  Lord  Dalhousie 
was  so  impressed  with  the  useful  work  done  by  his  vernacular  schools 
in  the  North- Western  Provinces,  that,  about  the  year  1852,  he  urged 
their  extension  upon  the  Home  Government.  Two  years  later  Sir 
Stafford  Northcote  responded  by  his  great  Despatch ;  and  the  Court 
of  Directors,  deliberately  accepting  education  as  a  State  duty  in 
India,  laid  down  with  fulness  and  precision  the  principles  which  were 
to  guide  the  Indian  Government  in  the  performance  of  this  task. 
The  Despatch  of  1854  still  forms  the  Charter  of  Education  in  India. 
It  was  reaffirmed  in  1859  by  the  Secretary  of  State  shortly  after 
India  had  passed  to  the  Crown  ;  and  it  formed  the  ground-work 
of  the  subsequent  developments  effected  by  the  Indian  Education 
Commission  in  1883. 

This  Despatch  constituted  a  separate  Department  of  Public 
Instruction  in  every  province  of  India.  It  articulated  a  regular  gra- 
dation of  institutions,  starting  from  the  vernacular  schools,  and 
passing  through  the  Anglo-vernacular  schools,  upwards  to  the  colleges 
and  the  universities.  At  the  lower  end,  it  enforced  the  necessity  of 
increased  attention  to  vernacular  teaching  as  the  basis  of  elementary 
education.  At  the  upper  end  it  provided  for  the  establishment  of 
universities  as  the  cope-stone  of  the  whole  system.  The  English 
language  was  fixed  once  and  for  ever  as  the  medium  of  instruction 
in  the  higher  branches,  and  the  Indian  vernaculars  in  the  lower. 
English  was  to  be  taught  wherever  there  was  a  demand  for  it,  but 
it  was  not  to  be  substituted  for  the  vernaculars  in  the  elementary 
instruction  of  the  people.  While  existing  institutions  for  the  study 
of  the  classical  languages  of  India  were  to  be  maintained,  an  effective 
machinery  was  created  for  bringing  useful  and  practical  knowledge 
within  the  reach  of  the  masses,  by  means  of  a  great  network  of  ver- 
nacular schools.  English  became  definitely  the  medium  of  higher 


6  STATE    EDUCATION. 

instruction,  and  the  language  of  the  future  for  the  more  highly 
educated  sections  of  the  populations. 

To  Lord  Dalhousie  belongs  the  douhle  honour  of  having  urged 
the  importance  of  vernacular  teaching,  and  of  introducing  the  modern 
Department  of  Public  Instruction  in  1854,  which  finally  accepted 
vernacular  teaching  as  the  basis  of  State  Education  in  India.  The 
great  Pro- Consul  regarded  the  new  system  with  as  much  pride  and 
enthusiasm  as  if  it  had  been  altogether  his  own  creation.  His  only 
fear  was  that  its  scope  was  so  extensive  that  it  would  be  difficult  for 
a  time  to  give  it  full  effect.  This  anticipation  proved  correct.  The 
more  conspicuous  features  of  the  edifice  were  promptly  constructed, 
and  even  the  Mutiny  year,  1857,  saw  the  Acts  pass  through  the 
Indian  Legislature  for  establishing  universities  at  Calcutta,  Bombay 
and  Madras.  But,  as  we  shall  see,  many  years  elapsed  before  the 
solid  foundations  of  the  system  were  finally  laid.  For  underlying 
the  vernacular  schools  recognised  by  the  Department  were  the  indi- 
genous schools  of  the  people.  Splendid  as  were  the  results  of  the 
Despatch  of  1854,  those  results  proved  for  a  time  to  be  one-sided, 
from  three  causes  which,  although  not  apparent  at  first,  gradually 
asserted  themselves.  As  regards  higher  education,  the  State  system 
tended  to  centralise  intellectual  progress  at  the  three  Presidency 
towns,  and  in  the  provinces  of  which  they  formed  the  capitals.  As 
regards  lower  education,  it  failed  to  adequately  incorporate  the 
ancient  and  widely  diffused  agency  of  the  indigenous  schools  of  India. 
In  every  grade  of  education  it  led  the  people  to  trust  too  much  to 
official  action  and  to  Departmental  aid,  instead  of  to  private 
effort. 

Yet  the  results  were  from  the  outset  sufficiently  striking.  The 
new  Department  fairly  started  in  1855,  and  during  the  next  fifteen 
years  it  was  allowed  to  develope  on  the  lines  laid  down  in  1854  and 
reasserted  in  1859,  with  little  interference  from  without.  In  those 
fifteen  years  it  more  than  doubled  the  ascertained  school  attendance 
in  India  :  from  923,780  pupils  in  1855  to  1,894,823  in  1870.*  The 
increase,  however,  was  not  alone  one  of  numbers.  The  character 
of  the  instruction  also  underwent  a  significant  change.  In  1855, 
the  Department  found  only  33,801  pupils  in  the  secondary  schools  ; 
that  is  to  say  in  the  rank  of  institutions  midway  between  the  primary 
schools  and  the  Arts  Colleges.  It  is  the  boys  in  these  secondary 
schools  who  form  the  material  from  which  the  Arts  Colleges  and  the 
Indian  Universities  derive  the  main  body  of  their  students.  During 
the  first  fifteen  years  of  State  education  on  the  lines  laid  down  in 
1854,  this  class  of  pupils  was  multiplied  four-fold,  to  128,708  in  1870. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  more  highly  educated  youth  told  at  once 
upon  the  attendance  at  the  Professional  Colleges.  The  number  of 
young  men  desiring  to  enter  the  learned  professions  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word  increased  three-fold,  from  the  petty  number  of 
912,  in  1855,  to  2,826  in  1870.  The  attendance  in  the  Normal 
Schools  and  Classes,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  institutions  for  pro- 

*  These  numbers  represent  the  attendance  in  all  known  institutions,  Departmental, 
Aided,  and  Extra-Departmental. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  7 

fessional  training  below  the  grade  of  the  Professional  Colleges,  had 
multiplied  twenty-seven  fold,  from  197  in  1855  to  5,368  in  1870. 
The  number  of  students  in  the  ordinary  Arts  Colleges  increased  but 
slightly  during  the  same  period.  The  three  universities  did  not 
make  much  progress  until  the  years  following  1860,  and  their  full 
eifects  were  not  developed  during  the  fifteen  years  at  present 
under  review.  Broadly  speaking,  the  first  fifteen  years  of  State 
Education  in  India,  upon  the  lines  laid  down  in  1854,  greatly 
increased  the  demand  for  professional  training,  and  created  at 
the  same  time  a  greatly  increased  reserve  of  educated  youth,  who 
were  destined  to  crowd  into  the  Arts  Colleges  during  the  sub- 
sequent period. 

But  those  fifteen  years  disclosed  another  and  more  striking 
feature.  The  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  in  the  first  vigour 
and  self-confidence  of  immaturity,  attempted  to  monopolise  the 
whole  area  of  Indian  education.  The  figures  for  1855  show  that  it 
started  with  only  67,569  pupils  in  every  grade  of  institution, 
Departmental  and  Aided,  from  the  colleges  down  to  the  primary 
vernacular  schools  ;  and  856,211  in  "Extra-Departmental"  schools, 
which,  although  included  in  the  returns,  were  outside  the  sphere  of 
official  action.  During  its  first  fifteen  years,  the  Department 
brought  members  of  the  "  Extra-Departmental  "  schools  under  its 
management.  Accordingly,  in  1870,  the  returns  show  an  increase 
of  twelve-fold  in  the  Departmental  and  Aided  schools,  while  the 
attendance  in  Extra-Departmental  schools  did  not  increase  by  one- 
fourth. 

The  three  immediate  effects  of  State  Education  in  India  may 
therefore  be  summarised  as  follows.  First,  an  enormous  increase 
in  the  number  of  young  men  desirous  of  a  professional  education, 
and  a  rush  into  the  Professional  Colleges  and  Normal  Schools. 
Second,  an  equally  significant  increase  in  the  reserve  body  of  boys 
educated  up  to  the  standards  which  in  India  lead  them  to  be 
ambitious  of  entering  the  learned  professions.  Third,  great 
activity  by  the  Department  in  bringing  the  Extra-Departmental 
schools  within  its  system,  and  thus  endeavouring  to  stereotype 
Indian  education  in  uniform  official  moulds. 

These  results  are  the  obvious  conclusions  derived  from  the 
official  returns.  But  there  were  other  results  less  obvious,  yet 
of  perhaps  even  greater  importance  in  the  development  of  the  Indian 
peoples.  Almost  everywhere  it  was  found  that  the  Hindu  popula- 
tion seized  with  avidity  on  the  opportunities  afforded  by  State 
Education  for  bettering  themselves  in  life ;  while  the  Muhammadan 
community,  excepting  in  certain  localities,  failed  as  a  whole  to  do 
so.  State  Education  thus  put  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  influence 
of  the  Muhammadans,  as  the  former  ruling  race  in  India.  That 
position  they  had  inherited  from  the  time  of  the  Mughal  Empire, 
and  during  the  first  period  of  the  Company's  administration  they 
still  held  an  undue  proportion  of  official  posts.  In  the  last  century, 
Musalman  Collectors  gathered  the  Company's  land  tax  in  Bengal. 
Musalman  Faujdars  and  Ghatwals  officered  its  police.  A  great 
Musalman  Department,  with  its  head-quarters  in  the  Nawdb 


8  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Ndzim's  palace  at  Murshidabad,  and  a  network  of  Musalman 
officials  over  every  district  in  Lower  Bengal,  administered  the 
criminal  law.  Musalman  jailors  kept  in  ward  the  prison  popula- 
tion of  Northern  India.  Kazis  or  Muhammadan  doctors  of  law 
presided  in  the  civil  and  domestic  courts.  When  the  Company 
first  attempted  to  administer  justice  by  means  of  trained  English 
officers  in  its  Bengal  possessions,  the  Muhammadan  Law  Doctors 
still  sat  with  them,  as  their  authoritative  advisers  on  points  of 
law.  The  Code  of  Islam  remained  for  many  purposes  the  law 
of  the  land,  and  the  ministerial  and  subordinate  offices  of  govern- 
ment continued  to  be  the  almost  hereditary  property  of  the 
Musalmans. 

During  the  fifty  years  preceding  the  organization  of  State  Instruc- 
tion in  1854,  this  monopoly  had  been  subjected  to  serious  inroads. 
The  Cornwallis  Code,  and  the  construction  of  a  British  system  of 
Indian  Law,  opened  the  judicial  and  Revenue  Departments  in  Bengal 
to  Hindus  and  Musalmans  alike.  The  substitution  of  the  vernacular 
languages  for  Persian  in  the  Courts  accelerated  the  change.  The 
Hindus  began  to  pour  into  every  grade  of  official  life  ;  and  the  State 
system  of  education  in  1854  completed  the  revolution.  By  1871 
there  were  only  92  Musalmans  to  681  Hindus  holding  gazetted 
appointments  in  Lower  Bengal — the  province  which,  a  hundred 
years  previously,  was  officered  by  a  few  Englishmen,  a  sprinkling  of 
Hindus,  and  a  multitude  of  Muhammadans. 

A  similar  change  had  taken  place  in  the  only  secular  profession 
which  was  then  considered  open  to  well-born  Musalmans,  namely 
the  law.  Medicine,  until  the  creation  of  the  present  system,  fell 
under  a  different  category.  The  list  of  Pleaders  of  the  High  Court 
of  Calcutta,  which  I  examined  in  1869,  dated  from  1834,  and  dis- 
closed the  following  results.  Of  the  surviving  Pleaders  of  1834, 
one  was  an  Englishman,  one  a  Hindu,  and  two  were  Musalmans. 
Down  to  1838,  the  Musalmans  continued  almost  as  numerous  as  the 
Hindus  and  English  put  together.  Of  the  Native  Pleaders  admitted 
to  the  High  Court  between  1845  and  1850  inclusive,  the  whole  sur- 
vivors in  1869  were  Musalmans. 

With  the  organisation  of  State  Education  in  1854,  and  with  the 
educational  activity  which  immediately  preceded  its  introduction, 
the  scene  changed.  Different  tests  of  fitness  were  exacted,  and  a 
new  order  of  men  came  to  the  front.  The  list  showed  that  out  of 
240  Native  Pleaders  admitted  from  1852  to  1868,  no  fewer  than  239 
were  Hindus  and  only  one  survivor  was  a  Musalman.  Passing  to 
the  next  grade  in  the  profession,  the  attorneys,  proctors  and 
solicitors  of  the  High  Court  of  Calcutta,  on  the  side  of  Original 
Jurisdiction,  there  were  in  1869  twenty-seven  Hindus  and  not  one 
Musalman.  Among  the  rising  generation  of  articled  clerks  there 
were  twenty-six  Hindus  and  again  not  one  Musalman.  Alike  there- 
fore in  higher  official  employments,  and  in  the  higher  practice 
of  the  law,  the  Muhammadans  had  fallen  out  of  the  race  in  Bengal 
before  the  end  of  the  first  fifteen  years  of  State  Education  on  the 
lines  laid  down  in  1854. 

But  their  exclusion  was  not  confined  to  the  more  lucrative  avoca- 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  g 

tions.  It  mattered  not  to  what  department  of  the  legal  profession  I 
turned,  the  result  was  the  same.  In  the  office  of  the  Registrar  of 
the  High  Court  of  Calcutta  there  were  in  1869  seventeen  employes 
of  sufficient  standing  to  have  their  names  published.  Six  of  them 
were  Englishmen  or  East  Indians,  eleven  were  Hindus,  and  not  one 
was  a  Musalman.  In  the  Receiver's  Office,  four  names  were  given, 
two  Englishmen  and  two  Hindus,  hut  no  Musalman.  In  the  office 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  the  Taxing  Officer  were  four  English- 
men and  five  Hindus,  but  no  Musalman.  In  all  the  nooks  and 
crannies  of  the  law,  in  the  Offices  of  Account,  the  Sheriff's  Office, 
Coroner's  Office,  and  Office  of  Interpreters,  twenty  names  were 
given,  eight  Englishmen,  eleven  Hindus,  and  one  Musalman — the 
sole  representative  of  the  Muhainmadan  population  (numbering 
21  millions  in  the  Lower  Provinces),  and  he,  a  poor  Maula  on  six 
shillings  a  week.  I  have  confined  my  scrutiny  to  the  gazetted  public 
appointments  in  Lower  Bengal,  and  to  the  legal  profession  in 
Calcutta,  because  it  was  scarcely  a  century  before  that  the  English 
received  over  the  government  of  these  provinces,  in  1765,  from  the 
Muhammadaii  Nawab  Nazim  and  from  a  Muhammadan  administra- 
tion. In  Bengal  Proper,  moreover,  with  Calcutta  as  its  capital,  the 
Muhammadans  actually  exceed  the  Hindus  in  number  (1881)  ;  and 
they  amount  to  nearly  one  half  of  the  Hindu  population  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  Lower  Provinces.  I  would  be  careful,  however,  to 
guard  the  reader  against  generalising  from  the  statistics  of  individual 
provinces  as  to  the  facts  for  all  India. 

Nor  do  I  put  forward  State  Education  as  the  sole  factor  in  pro- 
ducing this  disastrous  result  to  the  Muhammadans.  Eor  a  closer 
scrutiny  shows  that  many  other  causes  co-operated.  But  the  new 
system  of  Public  Instruction,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
Hindus  availed  themselves  of  it,  was  the  most  conspicuous  cause, 
and  gave  an  impulse  to  other  causes  which  rendered  them  irresistible. 
A  deep  despondency  spread  among  the  Muhammadans  throughout 
the  Lower  Provinces.  Their  ancient  cherished  system  of  religious 
education,  based  upon  Persian,  Arabic,  and  the  Kuran,  ceased 
definitely  to  enable  them  to  win  their  way  in  professional  or  official 
life.  In  some  cases,  despondency  settled  into  disaffection,  and  com- 
bined with  other  motives  to  intensify  the  general  feeling  of  dislike  to 
our  rule,  which  culminated  in  the  Wahabi  State  Trials  from  1865  to 
1870.  "I  attribute  the  great  hold  which  Wahabi  doctrines  have 
on  the  mass  of  the  Muhammadan  peasant^,"  wrote  the  Govern- 
ment officer  in  charge  of  the  chief  Wahabi  prosecution,  "  to  our 
neglect  of  their  education."  I  do  not  go  so  far  as  this.  But  it  is 
certain  that  the  Muhammadans  in  many  parts  of  India  became  con- 
vinced that  the  new  system  of  Public  Instruction,  with  the  new  tests 
of  fitness  which  it  created  for  candidates  for  public  employments  and 
for  professional  life,  was  distinctly  favourable  to  the  Hindus,  and 
distinctly  unfavourable  to  their  own  community.  "All  sorts  of 
employment,  great  and  small,"  wrote  the  Durbin,  a  Calcutta  Persian 
newspaper,  in  July  1869,  "  are  being  gradually  snatched  away  from 
the  Muhammadans,  and  bestowed  on  men  of  other  races,  particularly 
the  Hindus." 


io  STATE    EDUCATION. 

"Is  it  any  subject  for  wonder,"  wrote  the  Chief  Secretary  to  the 
Government  of  India  in  the  Home  Department,  "  that  they  have 
held  aloof  from  a  system  which,  however  good  in  itself,  made  no 
concession  to  their  prejudices,  made  in  fact  no  provision  for  what 
they  esteemed  their  necessities,  and  which  was  in  its  nature  unavoid- 
ably antagonistic  to  their  interests,  and  at  variance  with  all  their 
social  traditions  ?  The  educated  Muhammadan,  confident  in  his  old 
training,  sees  himself  practically  excluded  from  the  share  of  power 
and  of  the  emoluments  of  Government  which  he  had  hitherto  almost 
monopolized,  and  sees  these  and  all  the  other  advantages  of  life  pass 
into  the  hands  of  the  hated  Hindu.  Discontent — a  feeling  if  not  of 
actual  religious  persecution,  yet  of  neglect  on  account  (indirectly)  of 
his  religious  views — has  filled  the  minds  of  the  better  educated. 
Their  fanaticism,  for  which  ample  warrant  can  always  be  found  in 
the  Kuran,  has  been  hotly  excited,  until  at  last  there  is  danger  that 
the  entire  Muhammadan  community  will  rapidly  be  transformed  into 
a  mass  of  disloyal  ignorant  fanatics  on  the  one  hand,  with  a  small 
class  of  men  highly  educated  in  a  narrow  fashion  on  the  other, 
highly  fanatic,  and  not  unwarrantably  discontented,  exercising  an 
enormous  influence  over  their  ignorant  fellow-Muhammadans."  I 
do  not  unreservedly  endorse  these  words  :  but  they  show  the  views 
of  an  English  official  in  one  of  the  highest  posts,  as  to  the  effects  of 
fifteen  years  of  State  Education  in  Bengal. 

Those  effects  were  not,  however,  confined  to  the  depression  of  the 
Muharnmadans  and  the  exaltation  of  the  Hindus  as  a  whole.  It 
was  speedily  discovered  that  two  particular  races  of  the  Hindus  were 
the  chief  gamers  by  the  change,  one  in  the  South  and  the  other  in 
the  North  of  India.  In  the  South  the  Marathas  came  strongly  to 
the  front.  This  Hindu  population,  or  rather  organisation  of  castes, 
had  been  for  practical  purposes  the  ruling  race  from  whom  the 
British  conquered  Western  India.  The  Maratha  Confederacy  gave 
the  death-blow  to  the  Mughal  Empire  before  the  East  India  Company 
came  upon  the  scene  as  a  military  power.  It  was  the  Marathas 
who  frustrated  the  life  project  of  the  great  Emperor  Aurangzeb 
for  the  conquest  of  Southern  India.  It  was  they  who  broke  up  his 
armies  and  insulted  his  dying  distress.  During  the  feeble  rule  of 
his  successors  they  spread  over  the  Mughal  dominions,  and  harried 
its  provinces  from  the  Deccan  to  Lower  Bengal.  In  the  end  they 
made  themselves  masters  of  the  Mughal  capital,  and  it  was  from  the 
hands  of  the  Maratha  conquerors  that  the  British  armies  rescued 
the  miserable  blind  old  prisoner  whom,  at  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  we  saluted  as  Emperor  of  Delhi.  The  Marathas  were 
essentially  a  governing  race,  with  a  military  organisation  which 
taxed  the  utmost  force  of  the  British  power  to  break  it,  and  with 
talents  for  administration  that  quickly  reasserted  themselves  under 
British  rule. 

The  new  system  of  State  Education  gave  them,  in  the  middle  of 
the  present  century,  a  fresh  lease  of  power.  The  two  other  races 
of  Southern  India,  the  Tamil  and  Telugu,  although  possessed  of 
high  qualities,  practical  and  intellectual,  did  not  disclose  at  first  the 
same  plasticity  in  availing  themselves  of  English  Public  Instruction. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  n 

The  Maratha  Brahmans  after  some  natural  struggle  with  their 
hereditary  caste  feelings,  seized  upon  the  new  opportunity  for  en- 
grossing the  offices  of  the  subordinate  administration.  They 
crowded  into  the  official  employments,  not  only  throughout  their 
home-country  in  Bombay,  but  spread  themselves  far  and  wide, 
from  the  districts  of  Madras,  throughout  all  Western  India  and 
the  Central  Provinces,  northwards  as  far  as  Sind.  In  this,  as 
in  other  developments,  the  causes  had  been  at  work  long  before 
the  introduction  of  Public  Instruction  on  the  lines  of  1854.  But 
the  new  system  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  aptitudes  of  the 
Marathas,  and  has  made  them  the  conspicuous  race  in  the  present 
political  movements  of  Southern  India,  as  they  were  in  its  former 
administration. 

In  the  North  of  India  a  very  different  race  rushed  into  the  fore- 
ground. The  Bengalis  had  only  a  history  of  conquest,  and  their  exist- 
ence during  centuries  has  been  a  long  and  painful  struggle  against 
a  malarious  climate.  I  speak  here  of  the  Bengalis  of  the  Delta,  and 
especially  of  the  districts  around  Calcutta,  for  it  is  to  this  popula- 
tion that  the  term  is  correctly  applied.  The  great  provinces  of 
Lower  Bengal,  with  their  66  millions  of  people,  contain  as  healthy 
districts  and  as  vigorous  populations  as  can  be  desired.  But  the 
Bengali  whom  the  Englishman  in  Calcutta,  from  Macaulay  down- 
wards, has  seen  and  described  is  the  Bengali  of  the  Delta.  He  is 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  among  a  race  preyed  upon  by  fen  fever  and 
the  bacteria  which  have  their  home  in  drying  up  tropical  swamps. 
The  staple  food  of  the  Bengali,  rice,  seems  also  to  develope  a  less 
muscular  frame  than  the  wheat  and  millets  of  the  interior  provinces. 
Nevertheless,  he  is  a  true  survival  of  the  fittest  in  a  long  and 
homicidal  struggle  between  man  and  nature. 

His  slender  supple  body  is  capable  of  protracted  labour,  if  not 
of  too  severe  a  nature.  His  mind  is  many  sided,  prehensile  of 
new  ideas,  yet  sobered  by  a  traditional  reverence  for  the  past. 
With  a  deep-seated  love  for  his  own  homestead,  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed by  economic  necessities  to  seek  subsistence  or  employment  at 
a  distance  from  his  native  village.  He  is  not  only  quick-witted,  but 
he  endures  the  strain  of  continuous  brainwork  with  a  quiet  unob- 
trusive efficiency,  which  outlasts  the  more  attractive  energy  of  many 
of  the  finer  physical  races  of  India.  To  produce  the  present 
Bengali  of  the  Delta,  millions  of  families  have  become  extinct  in  the 
struggle  with  the  climate ;  and  the  survival  is  eminently  equipped 
with  the  race  qualities  which  enable  Man  to  contend  against  un- 
favourable natural  surroundings. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  British  ascendancy,  the  Bengali  at 
length  found  his  chance.  Protected  from  the  rough  invasion  of  the 
peoples  of  Northern  India,  and  situated  in  close  proximity  to  the 
head-quarters  of  the  British  Government,  the  Bengali  quickly  took 
the  measure  of  his  new  rulers,  and  made  himself  useful  to  them. 
It  was  he  who  began  the  process  of  ousting  the  Muhammadans  from 
the  administration.  It  was  he  who  enabled  us  to  carry  out  our  first 
efforts  at  judicial  and  revenue  reforms.  In  all  the  series  of  bene- 
ficent administrative  changes,  by  which  the  Lower  Provinces  with 


12  STATE    EDUCATION. 

their  66  millions  of  people  have  heen  transferred  from  a  misgoverned 
corner  of  the  Delhi  Empire,  into  a  peaceful  and  prosperous  British 
countiy,  the  Bengali  has  proved  himself  the  right-hand  man  of  the 
English  Government.  When  we  boast  ourselves  of  the  progress  of 
Northern  India  under  British  Rule,  we  ought  to  remember  that  the 
Bengali  has  been  both  a  principal  instrument  of  that  progress,  and 
its  most  conspicuous  product. 

E specialty  was  this  the  case  in  regard  to  the  measures  which  Lord 
Dalhousie  took  in  the  middle  of  the  present  century  with  a  view  to 
the  material  development  of  India.  When  Lord  Dalhousie  estab- 
lished the  half-ana  postage,  which  is  now  equivalent  to  a  halfpenny 
post,  for  the  whole  Indian  Empire,  Bengalis  began  to  spread  over 
Northern  India,  as  the  most  effective  agency  for  giving  effect  to  the 
reform.  When  he  started  telegraphs,  they  supplied  the  material  for 
the  sharpest  telegraph  signallers  and  clerks.  When  he  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Indian  railway  system,  the  Bengalis  filled  the 
railway  offices  throughout  many  provinces.  All  these  great  schemes 
were  introduced  during  a  short  period  preceding  1854.  The  creation 
of  the  new  system  of  Public  Instruction  in  that  year  gave  a  power- 
ful impetus  to  the  administrative  ascendency  which  the  Bengalis 
were  already  beginning  to  acquire  in  Northern  India.  The  aid 
which  the  Government  obtained  from  them  for  the  efficient  and 
economical  carrying  out  of  its  schemes  can  scarcely  be  overrated. 
But  their  success  made  them  the  most  unpopular  race  in  all  Northern 
India.  The  stalwart  peoples  of  the  North- Wrest  and  the  Punjab 
saw  with  disgust  the  old  course  of  invasion  reversed,  and  a  host 
of  slender-bodied,  quick-witted,  soft-mannered  men  advancing  up 
the  Gangetic  valley.  From  Calcutta  to  Peshawar  there  was  a 
Bengali  faction  in  every  Secretariat.  Bengalis  sat  on  half  the 
stools  in  the  telegraph  offices,  and  for  a  time  supplied  almost  the 
whole  native  staff  on  the  railways,  above  the  grade  of  a  navvy  or  a 
pointsman. 

Fifteen  years  of  State  Education  on  the  lines  laid  down  in  1854, 
had  thus  led  to  important  results  both  economic  and  ethnical  in 
India.  The  professions  were  already  overcrowded,  the  candidates 
for  Government  Service  greatly  exceeded  the  demand,  the  old  ruling 
race  of  Muhammadan  India  believed  itself  ruined  by  the  new 
system  of  Public  Instruction,  while  certain  of  the  Hindu  races  were 
unduly  engrossing  the  administration  throughout  large  areas  of  the 
country.  It  became  apparent  that  Western  instruction  was  pro- 
ducing not  only  a  redistribution  of  employments,  but  also  an  up- 
heaval of  races.  While  these  were  the  external  results  of  Educa- 
tion, serious  defects  made  themselves  felt  within  the  Department 
itself.  Its  foundation  in  indigenous  instruction  was  still  too  narrow 
for  the  vast  superstructure  of  higher  and  English  education  which  it 
raised  thereon.  It  also  disclosed  a  tendency  to  substitute  for  the 
varied  popular  forms  of  Indian  instruction  a  single  rigid  system  of 
its  own. 

The  first  great  measure  which  enabled  remedies  to  be  provided 
for  these  defects,  was  not  an  educational  measure  but  a  financial  one. 
In  1870  Lord  Mayo,  under  the  powerful  influence  of  the  Brothers 


RESULTS    IN    INDIA.  13 

Strachey,  introduced  his  de-centralisation  scheme  of  Finance. 
Under  this  scheme  each  Province  obtained  the  power  to  develope  its 
education  upon  lines  suited  to  its  own  wants.  Among  the  first 
Indian  administrators  who  availed  themselves  of  that  power  was 
Sir  George  Campbell,  then  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal.  He 
accepted  once  and  for  ever  the  indigenous  schools  as  the  basis  of 
the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  Lower  Provinces.  He 
determined,  while  improving  that  basis  to  respect  its  popular 
character,  and  to  save  it  from  being  forced  into  a  Procrustean 
mould.  Under  his  system  the  primary  schools  in  the  Lieutenant- 
Governorship  of  Bengal,  recognised  by  the  Department,  rose  from 
68,500  pupils  in  1870-71,  to  900,000  in  1881-82.  While  the 
Department  thus  rapidly  won  the  confidence  of  the  existing  in- 
digenous schools,  an  outer  circle  of  them  sprang  up  under  private 
Native  teachers,  in  the  hope  of  attaining  that  moderate  degree  of 
efficiency  which  would  entitle  them  to  grants-in-aid. 

Other  provinces  followed  in  the  same  judicious  lines.  The  effort 
to  establish  Public  Instruction  upon  the  actual  educational  wants  of 
the  mass  of  the  people,  steadily  carried  out  during  the  past  twenty 
years,  has  borne  rich  results.  How  important  these  results  have 
proved,  may  be  judged  from  the  state  of  a  backward  province  which 
did  not  make,  or  sufficiently  persist  in,  that  effort.  In  1881  the 
Education  Department  in  the  Punjab  spent  close  on  Ks.  1,400,000 
in  educating  105,000  pupils  on  its  own  imported  methods.  At  the 
same  time  the  indigenous  schools  in  the  Punjab,  which  received 
neither  recognition  nor  aid  from  the  Department,  were  educating 
135,384  pupils,  on  their  own  methods  and  at  their  own  expense. 
This,  as  was  well  said  by  a  witness  before  the  Indian  Education 
Commission  in  1882,  "  represents  the  protest  of  the  people  against 
our  system  of  education."  It  gave  emphasis  to  the  doubts  which 
had  been  raised  as  to  the  justice  of  levying  a  tax  from  the  peasant 
cultivators  of  the  Punjab  for  primary  schools,  while  the  Department 
denied  any  aid  to  the  indigenous  primary  schools  which  gave  the 
kind  of  education  desired  by  a  large  mass  of  the  people. 

These  doubts,  and  many  others  which  had  arisen  during  the  first 
twenty-five  years  of  State  Instruction  in  India,  were  laid  at  rest  by 
the  Education  Commission  of  1882.  For  if  the  initial  measure  which 
tended  to  bring  State  Education  into  accord  with  the  actual  wants 
of  the  people  was  Lord  Mayo's  Financial  Scheme  of  de- centralisa- 
tion in  1870,  the  measure  which  accomplished  the  process  was 
Lord  Eipon's  Education  Commission  of  1882-83.  This  body  was 
powerfully  constituted  of  21  representatives  from  the  various 
sections  of  the  community,  throughout  the  provinces  of  India. 
The  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  the  Missionaries,  and  Native 
teaching  bodies  were  ably  represented  upon  it.  Its  main  object 
was,  while  accepting  the  principles  laid  down  in  1854,  to  ascertain 
the  modifications  which  experience  had  disclosed  as  necessary  for 
the  edifice  of  State  Education  that  had  been  reared  on  those  prin- 
ciples. It  held  its  central  sittings  in  Calcutta,  but  also  travelled 
over  India,  carefully  examining  193  witnesses  in  the  various 
provinces,  and  receiving  323  Memorials  signed  by  over  233,000 


14  STATE    EDUCATION. 

persons.  It  embodied  the  results  in  a  report  of  639  folio  pages, 
besides  copious  statistical  tables,  and  formulated  its  conclusions 
in  220  distinct  Recommendations  to  the  Government.  These 
Recommendations  covered  the  whole  area  of  Native  education  in 
India,  excepting  technical  instruction,  from  the  colleges  down  to  the 
indigenous  schools.  After  an  elaborate  review  of  them  by  the 
Government  of  India,  they  received,  with  one  or  two  modifications, 
the  sanction  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  They  now  form  the  basis 
on  which  education  rests  in  India,  and  on  which  it  probably  will 
continue  to  rest  during  many  years  to  come. 

The  task  prescribed  by  Lord  Ripon  to  the  Commission  was  to 
extend  primary  education,  especially  upon  the  methods  which  the 
people  had  worked  out  for  themselves.  To  encourage  private 
enterprise  in  education,  and,  whenever  expedient,  to  transfer  schools 
from  the  Department  to  Native  management.  To  stimulate  female 
education  and  to  provide  means  for  the  instruction  of  the  Muham- 
madan  and  other  backward  races.  To  examine  the  machinery  and 
organisation  of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  and  to  in- 
corporate into  its  system  the  educational  activity  of  the  Muni- 
cipalities, Rural  Unions,  District  Councils,  and  other  public  bodies. 
Above  all  to  provide  against  the  danger  of  rearing  up  a  too 
numerous  class  highly  educated  upon  foreign  methods,  without  a 
sufficient  equipoise  of  education  in  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of 
the  people — in  short  to  make  higher  and  lower  instruction  advance 
together  at  a  more  equal  pace. 

Of  the  social  and  economic  consequences  of  this  great  reform,  I 
shall  presently  speak.  They  are  only  gradually  disclosing  them- 
selves. But  the  statistical  results  were  immediate,  and  they  have 
a  deep  significance.  According  to  the  latest  Parliamentary  Return, 
the  total  number  of  pupils  has  risen  from  just  over  2  millions  in 
1880-81,  the  year  preceding  the  Commission,  to  3J  millions  in 
1888-89,  five  years  after  it  closed  its  labours.*  This  result  is 
sufficiently  important,  but  it  fails  altogether  to  disclose  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  change.  For  the  object  of  the  Commission  was  not 
alone  to  increase  the  total  of  pupils,  but  to  make  their  education 
less  dependent  upon  the  Government,  and  in  a  larger  measure  the 
work  of  the  people  themselves.  I  have  only  the  complete 
Parliamentary  Returns  down  to  the  year  1887-88.  They  exhibit 
the  following  striking  phenomena.  While  the  number  of  pupils  in 
Government  Institutions  has  only  increased  from  769,074  in  1880- 
81  to  971,904  in  1887-88,  the  number  in  Aided  Institutions  has 
increased  from  1,111,843  to  1,703,527;  and  the  number  in  Private 
and  Unaided  Institutions  from  314,697  to  800,763.  If  these  be  the 
results  of  the  Education  Commission  in  the  green  leaf,  what  will 
they  be  in  the  dry  wood  ? 

*  In  this  and  all  subsequent  comparisons  I  follow  the  returns  given  in  the  Blue 
Book  entitled  "  Statistical  Abstract  relating  to  British  India,"  presented  to  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  dated  12th  September,  1889.  The  total  according  to  my 
latest  information  now  exceeds  3^  millions.  As  the  Parliamentary  Returns  do  not 
always  coincide  with  those  of  the  Education  Commission,  I  base  my  comparisons  on 
the  figures  supplied  by  the  Parliamentary  Returns. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  15 

The  truth  is,  that  the  Recommendations  of  the  Commission  are 
surely  and  swiftly  converting  the  old  Departmental  system  of 
Indian  Public  Instruction  into  a  national  system  of  education  for 
India.  The  Government  in  1882  clearly  foresaw  that  the  official 
resources,  both  in  money  and  men,  were  wholly  inadequate  to  the 
task.  It  warned  the  Commission  that  in  providing  for  the  extension 
of  education,  "the  limitation  imposed  on  the  action  of  Government 
by  financial  considerations  must  always  be  borne  in  mind."  The 
Education  Commission  accordingly  called  in  the  people  themselves 
to  its  aid,  with  the  following  remarkable  results.  While  the  number 
of  pupils  has  increased  in  round  figures  from  2  to  3J  millions,  and 
while  the  total  expenditure  on  Indian  education  has  increased  in 
round  figures  from  10  to  19  millions  of  rupees,  the  Government 
expenditure  on  education  has  actually  decreased  by  Us.  100,000  from 
1880-81  to  1887-88.  The  people  have  made  good  the  balance. 
And  they  have  made  it  good  only  to  a  small  extent  by  Local  Rates. 
The  school  fees  have  doubled  during  the  period,  while  the  sub- 
scriptions and  endowments  have  increased  by  over  sixty  per  cent. 
Under  the  strong  Recommendations  of  the  Commission,  moreover, 
an  almost  new  source  of  educational  income  has  been  developed  in 
the  shape  of  Municipal  support.  During  the  same  short  period  the 
contributions  from  the  Municipalities  to  schools  have  increased  by 
more  than  three-fold.  This  popular  aid  has  been  effective  not  only 
in  reducing  the  actual  Government  Expenditure,  but  in  enforcing 
a  more  rigid  economy  in  the  cost  of  Indian  education.  But  at  the 
same  time,  there  was  no  stint.  While  the  number  of  pupils  has 
increased  in  round  figures,  according  to  the  Parliamentary  Returns, 
from  a  little  over  2  millions,  to  3 J  millions ;  the  total  expenditure 
on  their  education  has  increased  from  10  to  19  millions  of  rupees. 

The  results  have  been  gained  not  by  a  sacrifice  of  the  higher 
branches  of  education,  and  in  spite  of  a  vast  increase  of  Educational 
Institutions  of  the  most  expensive  class.  The  number  of  candidates 
for  the  entrance  examination,  at  the  Calcutta  University  has  more 
than  doubled,  from  2,031  in  1881-82,  to  4,305  in  1887-88.  The 
number  of  such  candidates  at  the  Madras  University  has  nearly 
doubled,  from  3,519  to  6,582.  Their  number  at  the  Bombay 
University  has  increased  nearly  three-fold  from  1,260  to  3,012  during 
the  same  period. 

Judged  by  the  further  results  of  University  teaching,  the  increase 
is  still  more  striking.  The  graduates  who  took  their  degrees  in 
Law  at  Calcutta  (the  great  Law  University  of  India),  have  multi- 
plied by  close  on  seven-fold,  from  35  in  1880-81,  to  238  in  1887- 
88.  The  gentlemen  who  took  their  degree  in  Medicine  at  Bombay 
(the  great  Medical  University  of  India),  have  increased  from  45  in 
1880-81,  to  an  average  of  120  during  the  three  years  ending 
1887-88.  The  gentlemen  who  passed  the  B.A.  examination  at 
Madras  (a  chief  Arts  University  in  India),  have  increased  by  more 
than  three-fold,  from  113  in  1880-81,  to  437  in  1887-88. 

Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  the  standards  of  the  pass-examina- 
tion in  Indian  Universities  are  lower  than  in  England.  I  have  taken 
some  pains  to  arrive  at  a  just  estimate  of  their  comparative  difficulty, 


16  STATE    EDUCATION. 

and  obtained  the  views  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
Indian  students  who  have  gone  through  both  systems.  Mr.  Das 
Gupta,  after  successful  studies  at  the  Calcutta  University,  came  to 
Oxford  and  took  his  B.A.  with  Honours — a  "  Second  Class  "  in 
his  eleventh  term,  the  period  allowed  being  sixteen  terms.  He  was 
awarded  an  Exhibition  from  Balliol,  and  is  now  reading  at  that 
College  for  Honours  in  Law.  He  may  therefore  be  taken  as  a 
trustworthy  witness,  and  as  certainly  not  an  unfavourable  one  to  the 
Oxford  system. 

In  an  elaborate  paper  which  he  has  kindly  drawn  up  for  me,  he 
analyses  the  examinations  in  the  two  Univerities.  He  finds  that 
the  Entrance  Examination  at  Calcutta  corresponds  with  Kesponsions 
at  Oxford  ;  the  Calcutta  First  Arts  with  the  Oxford  Pass  Modera- 
tions ;  and  the  Calcutta  Pass  B.A.  with  the  Oxford  Pass  B.A.  He 
states  that  both  in  regard  to  the  books  prescribed  and  the  papers 
set,  the  Calcutta  Entrance  Examination  is  distinctly  higher  than 
the  Oxford  Responsions  ;  and  in  regard  to  the  books  prescribed, 
higher  even  than  the  Pass  Moderations  at  Oxford.  As  respects  the 
final  examination,  he  shows  by  comparative  tables  that  the  Calcutta 
Pass  B.A.  is  very  much  higher  than  the  Oxford  Pass  B.A. 
"  One  might  reasonably  doubt,"  he  adds  "if  the  Oxford  Pass  B.A. 
Standard  is  any  way  harder  than  the  Calcutta  First  Arts  Standard." 
As  regards,  therefore,  the  Pass  examinations,  whose  numerical 
results  I  have  just  stated,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the 
enormous  increase  in  the  number  of  graduates  of  the  Indian 
University,  represents  a  wide-spread  and  bona  fide  extension  in 
higher  education. 

That  higher  education,  however,  is  not  the  highest.  For  the 
modern  system  of  specialising  in  the  English  Universities  carries 
their  best  men  much  farther  than  the  Indian  system  does.  Mr. 
Das  Gupta,  while  showing  the  greater  difficulty  and  wider  scope  of 
the  Calcutta  Pass  Examinations,  bears  testimony  to  this  fact. 
"When  we  come  to  the  Honour  Schools,"  he  says  "we  see  at 
once  that  the  Oxford  standard  is  infinitely  superior  to  the  Calcutta 
standard.  There  can  hardly  be  any  comparison  between  the  two. 
Oxford  turns  out  specialists  :  Calcutta  merely  indicates  a  few  lines 
of  study  to  us  to  follow  up  after  leaving  the  University,  according  to 
our  tastes  and  predilections." 

The  reforms  in  the  Indian  Education  Department,  which  received 
their  authoritative  expression  in  the  Keport  of  the  Education  Com- 
mission, were  not,  however,  confined  to  the  extension  of  Public  In- 
struction. The  Commission  endeavoured  to  grapple  with  the  special 
difficulties  of  bringing  education  within  the  reach  of  certain  classes 
of  the  people.  The  first  of  these  classes  was  the  female  sex.  The 
Commission  found  that  there  were  certain  distinct  causes  of  the 
backwardness  of  female  education  in  India.  In  the  first  place,  the 
effective  desire  for  education  as  a  means  of  earning  a  livelihood,  does 
not  exist  as  regards  the  female  population  of  India.  In  the  second 
place,  the  social  customs  of  India  in  regard  to  child-marriage,  and 
the  seclusion  in  which  the  women  of  the  well-to-do  classes  spend 
their  married  life  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  put  an  end  to  a  girl's. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  17 

school-going  in  her  ninth  to  eleventh  year.  In  the  third  place,  the 
supply  of  female  teachers  is  greatly  deficient,  and  the  State  system 
of  female  education  had  therefore  to  he  conducted  in  a  large  measure 
hy  a  male  staff,  a  system  not  in  accord  with  the  feelings  of  the 
people. 

The  Commission,  having  taken  evidence  on  each  of  these  points 
throughout  the  various  provinces  in  India,  drew  up,  after  anxious 
consideration,  a  series  of  proposals  with  a  view  to  meeting  each  class 
of  difficulty.  These  proposals  they  formulated  into  twenty-seven 
Recommendations  to  Government,  and  on  those  Recommendations 
female  Public  Instruction  in  India  now  rests.  During  the  six  years 
which  have  passed  since  their  adoption  hy  the  Government,  the  great 
impulse  given  to  female  education,  and  the  multiplication  of  the 
various  agencies  and  methods  by  which  it  is  conveyed,  form  one  of 
the  most  striking  features  in  the  social  development  in  India. 

The  other  large  classes  of  the  population  whom  the  Commission 
found  in  a  backward  state  as  regards  Public  Instruction  were  the 
Muhammadans,  the  aboriginal  tribes,  and  the  low  castes.  For  each 
of  these  the  Commission  made  special  provision,  after  a  searching 
enquiry  into  the  actual  causes  which  had  prevented  their  acceptance 
of  the  State  system  of  education  on  its  previous  basis.  The  Muham- 
madans in  particular  formed  the  subject  of  a  completely  exhaustive 
enquiry.  It  was  found  that  the  backwardness  of  the  Muhammadans 
in  accepting  our  system  of  Public  Instruction,  and  their  consequent 
exclusion  from  public  offices,  the  law,  and  other  emplojonents 
requiring  education,  was  more  or  less  general :  but  with  two  striking 
exceptions.  These  exceptions  were  Oudh  and  the  North-Western 
Provinces.  The  Commission  having  thus  differentiated  the  problem, 
carefully  enquired  into  the  specific  causes  which  had  led  the  Muham- 
madans to  accept  our  system  in  certain  parts  of  India  and  to  reject 
it  in  others.  The  result  was  a  series  of  eighteen  Recommendations 
to  Government  which  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  The  Commis- 
sion were  deliberately  convinced  that  it  was  better  to  modify  the 
equitable  but  hard  and  fast  lines  of  Indian  Public  Instruction,  rather 
than  to  leave  so  large  and  important  a  section  of  the  people  outside 
its  scope.  For  example,  however  highly  it  might  regard  the  impar- 
tiality of  the  Public  Instruction  Department,  it  deemed  it  right  to 
modify  that  impartiality  when  it  found  that  the  Muhammadans,  who 
formed  thirty-two  per  cent  of  the  population  in  Bengal  and  Assam, 
had  contributed  in  1871  only  fourteen  per  cent,  to  the  school 
attendance. 

The  Commission  not  only  recommended  that  special  encouragement 
should  be  given  to  Muhammadan  Institutions,  but  that  special  pro- 
vision should  be  made  to  meet,  what  may  be  called,  the  Muhammadan 
religious  difficulty.  "  The  one  object  of  a  young  Hindu,"  they 
pointed  out  "is  to  obtain  an  education  which  will  fit  him  for  an 
official  or  a  professional  career.  But  before  the  young  Muhamma- 
dan is  allowed  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  secular  instruction,  he  must 
commonly  pass  some  years  in  going  through  a  course  of  sacred 
learning."  "  The  teaching  of  the  Mosque  must  precede  the  lessons 
of  the  school."  "  The  Muhammadan  boy,  therefore,  enters  school 

VOL.  i.  c 


1 8  STATE    EDUCATION. 

later  than  the  Hindu.  In  the  second  place,  he  very  often  leaves 
school  at  an  earlier  age,"  as  the  Muhammadan  parent,  being  poorer 
than  the  Hindu  parent  in  a  corresponding  social  position,  "  cannot 
afford  to  give  his  son  so  complete  an  education." 

The  Commission,  while  framing  their  Recommendations  for  the 
Musalmans  "  not  merely  with  a  regard  to  justice,  but  with  a  leaning 
towards  generosity,"  did  not  disguise  the  deteriorating  influences  of 
this  policy.  "  Special  encouragement  to  any  class,"  they  warned  the 
Muhammadans,  "is  in  itself  an  evil ;  and  it  will  be  a  sore  reproach 
to  the  Musalmans  if  the  pride  they  have  shown  in  other  matters 
does  not  stir  them  up  to  a  course  of  honourable  activity  ;  to  a  deter- 
mination that  whatever  their  backwardness  in  the  past,  they  will  not 
suffer  themselves  to  be  out-stripped  in  the  future  ;  to  a  conviction 
that  self-help  and  self-sacrifice  are  at  once  nobler  principles  of  con- 
duct and  surer  paths  to  worldly  success  than  sectarian  reserve,  or 
the  hope  of  exceptional  indulgence.  We  have  spoken  of  the  causes  ; 
we  here  accept  the  fact  that,  at  all  events  in  many  parts  of  the 
country,  the  Musalmans  have  fallen  behind  the  rest  of  the 
population." 

The  Indian  Muhammadans  have  taken  to  heart  these  wise  words. 
Since  the  enquiries  of  the  Commission  they  have  more  generally 
availed  themselves  of  State  Instruction,  and  they  have  also  en- 
deavoured to  meet  their  special  requirements  by  an  increase  of  in- 
stitutions of  their  own.  Many  of  them,  however,  still  hold  aloof, 
alike  from  Western  education  and  from  those  political  movements 
among  the  Natives  of  India  to  which  Western  education  gives  rise. 
For  example,  a  certain  amount  of  Muhammadan  opposition  has 
appeared  to  the  largest  and  best  known  of  those  movements,  namely, 
the  Indian  National  Congress.  But  even  in  such  cases  when  we 
look  carefully  into  the  facts,  we  find  that  the  Muhammadan  opposi- 
tion is  now  of  a  local  and  partial  character.  Thus  while  certain 
highly  respected  Muhammadans  of  the  older  school,  and  a  section  of 
the  Bengal  Muhammadans  whom  the  Commission  found  the  most 
backward  in  India  have  held  aloof  from  the  Congress,  yet  the  Indian 
Muhammadans  throughout  many  parts  of  the  country  have  joined  in 
the  movement.  The  number  of  Musalman  representatives  who 
would  have  attended  the  National  Indian  Congress  of  1888,  if  they 
had  maintained  a  strict  ratio  to  the  total  Muhammadan  population, 
should  have  been  286  to  937  Hindus.  The  number  of  Muhammadan 
delegates  who  actually  attended  the  Congress  was  222.  It  will  be  a 
happy  day  for  India  when  the  disproportion  between  the  Muhamma- 
dans who  ought  to  be  at  school,  and  those  who  are  actually  at  school, 
is  reduced  to  so  small  a  percentage  !  At  the  Bombay  Congress,  held 
in  a  strongly  Hindu  and  non-Muhammadan  presidencj^,  the  ratio  of 
Musalmans  to  Hindus  was  not  so  equally  maintained. 

With  the  further  development  of  education,  the  aggressive  promi- 
nence which  individual  races  obtained  is  beginning  to  disappear. 
The  non-Maratha  provinces  of  Western  India  have  turned  back  the 
tide  of  Maratha  invasion  and  are  filling  the  local  posts  in  the  admin- 
istration with  men  born  in  their  own  districts  and  educated  in  their 
own  schools.  The  inroads  of  the  Bengali  into  the  North- West  and 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  19 

the  Punjab  have  become  almost  a  thing  of  the  past.  There  is  still, 
I  believe,  a  Bengali  clique  in  several  of  the  capitals  of  those  pro- 
vinces, but  the  Local  Departments  are  now  for  the  most  part 
officered  by  local  men.  The  truth  is  that  the  Marathas  and  the 
Bengalis  were  quick-witted  races,  who  saw  their  opportunity  in  the 
new  system  of  State  Education  on  the  lines  of  1854,  and  who  made 
the  most  of  it,  while  it  lasted.  By  the  Marathas,  I  here  and  else- 
where mean  chiefly  the  Maratha  Brahman s.  They  and  the  Bengalis 
are  still  among  the  foremost  races  of  India  in  intelligence  and  educa- 
tion, and  they  take  a  leading  part  in  political  or  social  movements, 
such  as  the  Congress  already  referred  to.  But  with  the  development 
of  an  autonomous  system  of  education  in  every  separate  province, 
the  multiplication  of  local  colleges,  and  the  establishment  of  new 
Universities  for  the  North- West  and  the  Punjab,  there  has  been  a 
general  levelling  up  of  the  other  Indian  races.  The  prominence  of 
the  Marathas  and  the  Bengalis  is  no  longer  an  odious  prominence, 
and  their  temporary  monopoly  of  official  employments  has  ceased,  or 
is  disappearing. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Madras  or  Tamil  races  are  now  taking  a 
foremost  place  in  the  political  movements  of  India.  At  the  last 
Indian  National  Congress,  three  schemes  of  electoral  representation 
were  submitted :  one  from  Bengal,  one  from  the  Marathas  of 
Bombay,  and  one  from  Madras.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  solidity 
and  tenacity  of  the  Tamil  race,  that  the  scheme  eventually  adopted 
by  the  Indian  National  Congress  was  the  scheme  brought  forward 
by  the  Madras  delegates. 

The  results  of  the  vast  extension  of  education  in  India  permeate 
every  sphere  of  human  activity.  In  religion,  the  Indian  races  are 
under  the  cautious  forms  of  a  respectful  orthodoxy,  making  one  of 
the  greatest  new  departures  which  the  world  has  ever  witnessed. 
This  new  departure  is  aided  by  the  curious  mixture  of  strength  and 
plasticity  in  Hinduism.  The  absence  of  any  fixed  canon,  like  our 
Christian  Bible,  enables  Hinduism  to  adjust  itself,  without  any 
appearance  of  violent  change,  to  the  shifting  opinions  of  each  age. 
To  apply  the  term  idolator,  in  our  popular  sense  of  the  word,  to  an 
educated  young  Hindu,  would  now  be  almost  as  gross  an  abuse  of 
the  term  as  to  apply  it  to  an  enlightened  member  of  the  Greek  or 
Roman  Church. 

The  whole  body  of  sacred  Sanskrit  literature,  while  venerated  as 
a  store-house  of  philosophy,  poetry,  and  law,  is  dealt  with  in  the 
same  historical  spirit  as  that  in  which  we  regard  the  Patristic 
writings  or  the  Talmud.  Even  the  Veda  itself  has  now  but  few 
remaining  defenders  of  its  claim  to  literal  inspiration  among  the 
educated  Hindus.  Modern  Hinduism  is  a  social  organisation  and  a 
religious  confederacy.  It  allows  any  number  of  new  sects,  theistic 
or  others,  to  grow  up  within  its  own  body.  It  regards  with  quiet 
humour  the  minor  sects  like  the  Brahma  Samaj,  which,  in  their  youth- 
ful zeal,  may  think  it  needful  to  separate  themselves  from  the  general 
community.  In  the  course  of  a  few  generations  it  re-absorbs  such 
theistic  sects  into  itself — or  into  a  new  development  of  its  old  self. 
The  old  aggressive  use  of  the  term  "heathen"  in  Calcutta  or  Bombay 

c  2 


20  STATE    EDUCATION. 

would  now  bring  an  indiscreet  Christian  within  perilous  reach  of 
certain  clauses  of  the  Indian  Penal  Code. 

The  most  characteristic  feature  of  Hindu  society,  next  to  its 
religion,  is  perhaps  its  almsgiving.  Its  ancient  Scriptures  and 
modern  practice  agree  in  according  to  acts  of  benevolence  a  chief 
function  in  the  scheme  of  salvation.  But  between  the  precepts  of 
the  ancient  Hindu  scriptures  and  the  modern  practice,  a  profound 
change  has  been  brought  about  by  Western  ideas.  The  Sanskrit 
sacred  writings  give  special,  although  not  exclusive,  value  to  dona- 
tions to  the  priestly  class.  The  young  educated  Hindu,  while 
not  divesting  himself  of  this  duty,  has  accepted  more  or  less  fully 
the  doctrines  of  modern  philanthropy.  But  he  maintains  that,  in 
so  doing,  he  only  makes  a  reversion  to  the  first  principle  of  Indian 
Buddhism,  namely,  "  charity  to  all  men."  No  appeal  for  a  great 
philanthropic  object  is  now  made  to  the  Hindu  races  without  draw- 
ing forth  a  response. 

Instead  of  concentrating  their  almsgiving  upon  the  Brahmans, 
they  are  devoting  it  to  the  erection  and  maintenance  of  schools, 
dispensaries,  and  hospitals,  or  to  a  revival  of  that  well-known  Hindu 
form  of  charity,  the  construction  of  tanks  and  other  useful  local 
works.  Fifty  years  ago  Lady  Dufferin's  magnificent  project  for 
creating  a  wide  organisation  of  medical  aid  for  the  women  of  India 
would  have  been  met  with  coldness  if  not  with  distrust.  Nor  is  it 
too  much  to  say  that  the  great  extension  of  education  recently  made 
in  India  has  been  made  on  Western  philanthropic  principles,  and  to 
a  large  extent  with  donations  which  fifty  years  ago  would  have  been 
expended  in  feeding  Brahmans.  In  this  as  in  every  other  depart- 
ment of  Indian  progress,  it  would  be  foolish  to  exaggerate  the  extent 
of  the  change  which  has  yet  been  effected.  But  it  would  be  still 
more  foolish  to  overlook  the  change  which  is  surely  and  steadily 
taking  place. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  moral  changes  at  work  in  Hindu 
society.  The  position  of  widows  in  India  is  still  a  reproach  to  the 
country.  But  the  educated  Hindus  realize  that  it  is  a  reproach,  and 
there  is  a  widespread  movement  with  a  view  to  its  amelioration. 
The  most  conspicuous  figure  in  that  movement  is  a  Parsi  and  not  a 
Hindu.  And  here  I  take  the  opportunity  of  explaining  that  if  I 
have  not  mentioned  the  Parsis  as  a  progressive  Indian  race,  it  is 
only  because  of  the  comparative  fewness  of  their  numbers,  and  of 
the  still  semi-foreign  character  in  which  they  are  traditionally 
regarded.  But  although  the  most  eloquent  and  ardent  advocate  for 
improving  the  position  of  Indian  women  is  a  Parsi,  his  most  powerful 
following  is  among  the  Hindus  themselves.  The  Hindus,  however, 
realize  more  clearly  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  question. 
They  perceive  that  while  the  law  of  India,  and  the  usages  of  Hindu 
society,  maintain  the  ancient  degree  of  pi^otection  given  to  women, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  combine  that  ancient  protection  with  the 
modern  ideas  of  female  freedom  of  action.  You  cannot  give  to  the 
same  person  all  the  double  advantages  of  a  state  of  pupilage  and  of 
:i  state  of  independence.  This  is  the  problem  which  the  educated 
Hindus  are  now  endeavouring  to  solve. 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  21 

For  example,  the  Hindu  widow  is  regarded  as  a  first  charge  on 
the  Hindu  family.  Her  maintenance  is  secured  to  her  from  the 
labour  of  her  husband's  male  survivors,  and  every  one  who  has  had 
experience  of  the  working  of  the  Hindu  family  system,  knows  how 
heavy  a  charge  the  accumulated  female  relatives  constitute  upon  the 
resources  of  the  working  males.  In  Hindu  families  of  a  wealthier 
class,  the  Hindu  law,  throughout  most  parts  of  India,  gives  to  a  widow 
the  usufruct  of  her  husband's  whole  property,  if  he  leaves  no  son. 
But  it  does  so  for  the  special  purpose  of  continuing  the  religious 
persona  of  the  husband,  and  to  enable  her  to  perform  a  life-long 
round  of  ceremonies  for  his  benefit  in  the  other  world.  If  she 
marries  again  she  passes  out  of  her  late  husband's  family  into  the 
family  of  her  new  husband,  and  she  becomes  thereby  incapable, 
according  to  Hindu  usage,  of  performing  the  very  ceremonies  for 
the  due  performance  of  which  she  has  succeeded  by  law  to  her  late 
husband's  property.  The  British  Legislature  in  India  recognised 
this,  and  while  declaring  the  Hindu  widow  free  to  re-marry,  holds 
that  byre-marriage  she  forfeits  her  interest  in  her  deceased  husband's 
estate. 

The  educated  Hindus  perceive  that,  in  order  to  obtain  the  consent 
of  the  mass  of  their  countrymen  to  any  large  social  reform  in  the 
position  of  widows,  there  must  also  be  a  legislative  change.  I  have 
cited  only  one  aspect  of  the  question.  But  the  same  necessity  for 
alterations  in  the  law  underlies  the  other  aspects  of  Indian  female 
life  ;  from  the  legal  age  of  marriage  onward  to  the  abolition  and 
restrictions  on  re-marriage.  The  educated  Hindus,  while  aiding  by 
public  associations  and  by  eloquent  writings  in  the  popular  move- 
ment, desire  that  that  movement  should  have  its  basis  in  legal 
reform.  I  have  before  me  at  this  moment  several  such  schemes, 
emanating  from  Hindus.  Thus  a  distinguished  Maratha  adminis- 
trator, the  Raja  Sir  Madava  Rao,  K. C.S.I.,  writes  to  me  under  date 
28th  January  last,  forwarding  the  last  version  of  the  scheme  of  legis- 
lative reform  which  he  has  long  advocated,  "  to  relieve  or  mitigate 
the  unhappiness  of  widows,  or  rather  to  reduce  the  chances  of 
widowhood."  In  regard  to  the  position  of  women,  Western  ideas 
are  bringing  about  a  profound  change  of  opinion  among  the  rising 
generation  of  educated  Hindus — a  change  to  which  their  leaders  are 
endeavouring  soberly  and  cautiously  to  give  practical  effect. 

The  same  caution  marks  the  progress  which  the  Hindus  have 
made  in  the  industrial  life  of  India.  We  are  all  aware  that  a 
revolution  has  been  effected  in  our  own  days  with  regard  to  the 
food  supply  of  England.  But  we  do  not  yet  realize  the  full 
significance  of  what  has  taken  place.  The  great  food-producing 
areas  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  are  the  Gulf  Stream  region  of 
Europe  and  the  Monsoon  region  of  Asia.  The  European  region, 
as  has  been  admirably  shown  by  Mr.  Mackinder,  the  Reader  in 
Geography  at  Oxford,  is  the  region  "  blown  over  by  prevalent  west 
winds  fed  with  warmth  and  moisture  from  the  warm  surface  waters 

of  the  Atlantic Historically  this  is  the  Roman  world,"  with 

a  modern  population  of  about  300,000,000  inhabitants.     The  Mon- 
soon region   extends   over   South-Eastern  Asia,  with    700,000,000 


22  STATE    EDUCATION. 

inhabitants,  of  whom  the  most  important  for  practical  purposes  of 
food  production  are  the  250,000,000  of  India. 

These  two  food-producing  areas  were,  down  to  our  times,  kept 
apart  by  distance  and  by  the  difficulties  of  communication.  The 
Suez  Canal  and  the  modern  improvements  in  marine  engines  have 
brought  them  closer  into  contact,  and  will  probably  bring  them  still 
more  closely.  The  first  races  to  take  advantage  of  the  altered  con- 
ditions were  the  peoples  of  India.  Indian  commerce,  which  in  its 
earlier  stages  consisted  of  nick-nacks  and  luxuries,  is  becoming  more 
and  more  a  wholesale  trade  in  staple  agricultural  produce.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  total  merchandise  exported  from  India  averaged, 
during  the  five  years  1840-44  inclusive,  only  14J  millions  sterling. 
The  present  exports  of  Indian  agricultural  staples — grains,  seeds, 
cotton  and  jute  in  their  various  forms,  indigo,  and  tea — alone  exceed 
53  millions ;  and  India's  total  exports  of  merchandise  now  amount 
to  83  millions,  of  which  more  than  80  millions  are  strictly  Indian 
produce.  These  figures  are  at  the  conventional  rate  of  exchange. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  Suez  Canal  has  broken  down  the  geo- 
graphical barrier  between  the  food-producing  populations  of  the 
Monsoon  area  and  the  food-consuming  populations  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  area.  How  rapidly  the  process  is  going  on  may  be  esti- 
mated from  a  single  item,  wheat.  In  1874-75  the  export  of  wheat 
from  India  was  one  million  cwts.  The  Parliamentary  Return  for 
1886-87  gives  the  export  of  Indian  wheat  at  22J  million  cwts. 
The  trade  fluctuates  from  year  to  year,  but  the  increase  during  each 
period  of  years  is  most  striking;  nor  can  any  man  predict  the 
dimensions  which  it  may  reach  as  the  Indian  railways  open  out 
the  country.  It  has  been  a  main  factor  in  reducing  by  one-half  the 
price  of  the  Englishman's  staple  food — from  over  sixty  to  about 
thirty  shillings  a  quarter. 

This  great  revolution,  while  directly  the  result  of  cheaper  transit, 
has  been  aided  indirectly,  but  in  an  important  way,  by  the  intellectual 
progress  of  the  Indian  races.  The  educated  Hindus  supply  the 
working  staff  of  English  capital  in  India.  Their  cheap  and  effective 
labour  has  powerfully  assisted  the  British  merchants  of  Calcutta 
and  Bombay  in  their  competition  against  German  and  other  foreign 
firms,  who  work  on  somewhat  more  economical  methods  than  the 
older  English  houses.  Without  a  highly  skilled  Hindu  subordinate 
administration,  the  Indian  railways  could  not  be  worked,  nor  could 
their  accounts  be  kept,  with  a  profit.  From  the  wayside  station- 
masters  up  to  the  central  offices  of  audit,  the  English-speaking 
Hindus  supply  the  mass  of  the  Indian  railway  employes. 

For  a  time  the  Indian  races,  with  their  characteristic  caution, 
confined  their  commercial  attempts  to  the  ordinary  operations  of 
trade.  Thejr  bought  and  sold  produce  on  their  own  account,  while 
their  cheap  labour  as  clerks  or  assistants  enabled  the  British 
merchant  to  conduct  an  enormous  export  business  on  a  low  scale  of 
charges.  But  having  thus  served  their  apprenticeship  to  modern 
commerce,  the  Indian  races  gradually  began  to  take  up  the  work  of 
modern  manufacturers.  Their  old  domestic  manufactures  of  the 
hand-loom  had  been  destroyed  by  the  competition  of  Manchester 


RESULTS    IN   INDIA.  23 

manufacturers  by  means  of  steam-power.  The  long  drawn-out 
agony  of  that  period  of  ruin  among  the  textile  workers  of  India 
will,  I  trust,  some  day  be  truly  told.  At  the  end  of  it,  the  Indian 
commercial  class  resolved  to  fight  Manchester  with  her  own  weapons. 
Steam-power  mills  and  factories,  built  with  Native  capital,  worked 
by  Native  hands,  and  controlled  by  Native  firms  or  by  Native 
Boards  of  Direction,  began  to  raise  their  chimneys  in  Bombay,  and 
along  the  banks  of  the  Hugli.  They  are  now  springing  up  in  many 
local  centres  of  Native  trade.  For  example,  Surat,  instead  of 
giving  its  name  only  to  a  class  of  Indian  cotton,  is  pouring  out 
thousands  of  bales  of  Indian  piece  goods.  When  a  Calcutta  com- 
pany some  years  ago  started  a  line  of  river  steamers  on  the  Hugli, 
it  was  found  possible  to  work  them  almost  entirely  by  Native 
masters,  Native  engineers,  and  Native  pilots. 

There  is  one  operation  of  commerce  on  which  the  educated 
Natives  have  long  looked  with  envy,  but  from  which  with  character- 
istic caution  they  have  hitherto  abstained.  I  refer  to  the  modern 
system  of  banking.  The  Native  banking  firms  still  pursue,  under 
certain  modifications,  their  old  method  of  working  with  their  own 
capital,  or  with  capital  obtained  in  comparatively  large  sums  from 
their  friends  and  relatives.  They  are  now  casting  wistful  glances 
at  the  English  and  Scotch  system  of  banking,  guaranteed  by  a 
central  body  of  subscribed  capital,  but  with  that  capital  multiplied 
by  means  of  small  deposits  drawn  by  a  network  of  branches  from 
the  agricultural  districts.  The  Government  system  of  Post  Office 
Savings'  Banks  has  acted  as  an  object-lesson  to  them  in  this  de- 
partment of  finance.  That  system  rapidly  expanded  during  the 
last  five  years,  for  which  I  possess  the  Parliamentary  returns,  from 
76,438  depositors  and  a  balance  of  6£  million  rupees  at  the  end  of 
1883-84,  to  227,865  depositors  and  42  millions  of  rupees  at  the 
end  of  1887-88. 

There  seems  a  possibility  that  the  English  system  of  banking,  based 
upon  local  branches  which  draw  a  multitude  of  small  deposits  out  of 
the  country,  will  now  attract  the  attention  of  Native  capitalists.  When 
that  time  comes  the  new  industrial  era  in  India  will  enter  on  a  phase 
of  which  it  is  difficult  to  foresee  the  result.  The  great  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  Native  methods  of  commerce,  and  in 
the  Native  methods  of  manufactures  during  the  present  generation, 
will  then  find  their  completion  in  a  change  in  the  Native  methods  of 
finance.  When  it  is  remembered  that  during  the  twenty- one  years 
ending  1888,  India  has  actually  swallowed  down  1920  millions  of 
rupees  worth  of  gold  and  silver,  it  may  be  imagined  what  a  future 
is  thus  opened  up.  Those  1920  millions  are  exclusive  of  370 
million  rupees  worth  of  treasure  re-exported.  The  demand  for  gold 
and  silver  as  coinage  has  at  the  same  time  been  relieved  by  the  grow- 
ing popularity  of  Government  currency  notes.  The  consumption  of 
bullion  for  the  arts  is  small  in  India,  except  as  jewellery  for 
purposes  of  hoarding. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  and  expensive  business  for  the  Anglo-Indian 
financiers  to  get  hold  of  the  accumulated  gold  and  silver  in  India  by 
means  of  deposit  banking  in  the  rural  districts.  The  multitude  of 


24  5  TA  TE    ED  UCA  TION. 

little  local  branches  could  be  economically  worked  only  by  Natives 
of  India,  and  the  risks  incident  to  such  a  business  would  at  first  be 
greater  than  in  England.  But  if  the  hoarded  wealth  of  India  can 
be  turned  into  effective  capital  for  Indian  commerce,  it  will  bring 
about  a  reduction  in  Indian  rates  of  interest,  and  an  activity  in 
Indian  manufactures  and  trade,  fraught  with  consequences  of  magni- 
tude to  the  whole  civilised  world. 

In  this  very  rapid  survey  of  the  effects  of  Western  Education  in 
India,  I  feel  as  if  I  had  only  touched  the  fringe  of  a  great  subject. 
Into  the  political  results  I  am  precluded,  by  want  of  space,  from 
entering.  For  to  deal  fairly  and  satisfactorily  with  so  vexed  a  ques- 
tion as  the  present  political  movements  of  the  Indian  races  would 
demand  a  detailed  treatment  forbidden  to  me  here.  I  may  therefore 
briefly  say  that  those  political  movements  are  the  legitimate  and 
inevitable  result  of  Western  Education  in  India.  The  men  who 
conduct  them  are  the  men  to  whom  in  all  other  respects,  intellectual 
and  moral,  we  are  accustomed  to  point  as  the  highest  products  of 
British  rule  in  India.  They  are  the  men  who  form  the  natural  in- 
terpreters of  our  rule  to  the  masses  of  the  people.  To  speak  of 
such  men,  when  their  activity  takes  a  political  direction,  as  dis- 
affected, would  be  equally  unjust  and  untrue.  For  they  are  the  men 
who,  of  all  our  Indian  fellow-subjects,  realise  most  clearly  that  their 
interests,  present  and  future,  are  identified  with  the  permanence 
of  British  rule. 

But  brief  as  this  survey  has  unavoidably  been,  it  suffices  to  show 
that  the  present  political  movements  among  the  Indian  races  are 
only  one  aspect  of  a  general  advance,  moral,  intellectual,  and  in- 
dustrial, that  is  now  going  on.  The  most  significant  fact  connected 
with  the  late  Indian  National  Congress  at  Bombay  was  not  its  mar- 
vellous assemblage  of  1889  representatives  from  every  province  of 
India.  It  was  rather  that  this  great  gathering  for  political  purposes 
was  held  side  by  side  with  a  still  greater  meeting  in  the  same  city 
for  ameliorating  the  condition  of  Woman  in  India — the  Social 
Reform  Conference  attended  by  6000  persons,  chiefly  Hindus.  A 
political  movement  which  is  purely  political  may  be  wise  or  unwise, 
but  a  political  movement  which  forms  part  of  the  general  advance  of 
a  people  to  a  higher  state  of  society  and  to  a  nobler  ideal  of  domestic 
and  individual  life,  is  irresistible.  It  may  be  guided,  it  may  be 
moderated,  but  it  must  assuredly  be  reckoned  with. 

W.  W.  HUNTER. 


PART    II. 

ELEMENTABY   EDUCATION   IN   ENGLAND.* 

FEW  persons  even  in  this  country  not  actually  connected,  in  one 
way  or  another,  with  the  work  itself  have  other  than  very  vague 
ideas  as  to  the  system  of  elementary  education  which  obtains 
among  us.  One  still  frequently  hears  Board  Schools  spoken  of  as 
if  the  term  were  synonymous  with  "Public  Elementary  Schools," 
and  as  if  no  such  things  as  Voluntary  or  Denominational  Schools 
had  any  existence.  Again,  it  is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  thing  to 
hear  even  well  informed  persons  express  astonishment  at  learning 
that  the  education  in  Board  Schools  is  not  as  a  rule  purely  secular. 
It,  therefore,  is  not  altogether  out  of  place  that  a  short  account  of 
that  system  should  be  included  among  the  contents  of  even  an 
English  Review  which  aims  at  dealing  comprehensively  with  the 
subject  of  State  Education. 

Like  most  of  our  institutions,  our  system  of  elementary  education 
is  a  growth  not  a  creation.  It  is  the  resultant  of  the  action,  not 
always  harmonious,  of  various  forces  originating  in  the  very  depths 
of  our  national  existence — the  outcome  of  which  is  a  system  differ- 
ing in  some  of  its  most  prominent  features  from  any  which  is  to 
be  found  elsewhere.  For  a  comprehension,  therefore,  of  those 
peculiar  features  some  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  system  in  its 
gradual  development  is  essential. 

Until  the  commencement  of  the  last  century  the  main,  if  not  the 
sole,  provision  for  the  education,  elementary  as  well  as  higher,  of 
the  people  in  England  and  Wales  was  to  be  found  in  the  so-called 
"  Grammar  Schools "  which  were  scattered,  in  greater  or  less 
numbers,  over  nearly  the  whole  of  the  country.  These  were  for  the 
most  part  free,  and  as  in  Scotland  were  attended  without  distinction 
of  class  by  the  children  of  the  surrounding  district.  The  noble 
dream  of  the  Reformers  in  the  16th  centur}^,  realized  to  a  great 
extent  in  the  kingdom  north  of  the  Tweed,  that  each  parish  should 
have  its  school  and  each  school  its  direct  connection  with  one  of  the 
Seminaries  of  higher  learning,  was  in  this  country  almost  entirely 
brought  to  nought  by  the  rapacity  of  the  courtiers  of  Henry  VIII. 
Still,  the  many  schools  which  in  different  localities  still  com- 
memorate the  short  reign  of  Edward  VI.  not  only  indicated  the 
aspirations  of  the  Reformers,  but  set  an  example  which  in  happier 
days  was  largely  followed  by  private  benefactors,  until  by  the  middle 
of  the  next  century  few  parts  of  the  country  were  without  some 
educational  provision  of  this  kind.  Though  open  to  all,  however, 
the  advantages  of  these  schools  were  in  fact  confined  almost  ex- 
clusively in  country  places  to  the  children  of  the  yeomen  and  the 

*  Vide  also  Part  XI.  New  Code  for  1890.— ED. 


26  STATE    EDUCATION. 

inferior  gentry,  and  when  these  classes  were,  by  the  rise  of  com- 
mercial centres,  attracted  in  increasing  numbers  from  the  country 
into  the  towns,  the  great  majority  of  the  Grammar  Schools  fell  into 
decay. 

The  crowding  of  the  population  into  the  towns,  and  the  consequent 
need  of  additional  provision  in  those  places  for  their  education,  was 
one  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  formation,  in  1698,  of  the 
now  venerable  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge.  Be- 
ginning in  that  year  with  four  schools  in  London  and  Westminster, 
the  operations  of  the  Society  extended  so  rapidly  that  before  twenty 
years  had  elapsed  more  than  1,000  schools,  of  which  nearly  120 
were  in  London  or  its  immediate  neighbourhood,  had  been  called 
into  existence  in  different  parts  of  this  country  and  the  sister 
island.  These  schools  were  entirely  free,  and  in  most  cases  pro- 
vided the  children  with  clothing  in  addition  to  education,  and  not 
infrequently  with  board  and  lodging  also.  In  several  respects  this 
early  effort  anticipated  what  we  are  accustomed  to  think  special 
features  of  our  present  system,  and,  in  one  instance  at  least — that 
of  manual  and  industrial  training — was  somewhat  in  advance  of  that 
system.  Security  for  efficiency  was  taken  by  means  of  regular 
inspection  and  periodical  examination  ;  the  necessities  of  industry 
were  reconciled  with  those  of  education  by  means  of  a  half-time 
system  ;  and  the  special  needs  of  those  whose  earlier  education  had 
been  neglected  were  partially  met  by  evening  classes.  After  the 
first  enthusiasm  had  expended  itself,  however,  the  system  gradually 
languished  until  the  educational  revival  which  took  place  at  the 
close  of  last  century  through  the  exertions  of  Lancaster  and  Bell, 
when  it  practically  merged  into  that  of  the  National  Societ}r. 

The  work  of  Joseph  Lancaster  commenced  in  1798,  and  resulted 
after  ten  years  in  the  foundation  of  "  The  Royal  Lancasterian  In- 
stitution"— a  body  which  in  1814  changed  its  name  into  that  of 
"  The  British  and  Foreign  School  Society."  The  "  National 
Society  "  was  founded  in  1811 — partly,  it  would  seem,  as  a  protest 
against  the  undenominational  character  of  the  schools  established 
by  the  Lancasterian  Society — for  promoting  the  education  of  children 
in  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  England.  Until  1833  these 
societies,  in  worthy  rivalry,  were  between  them  instrumental  almost 
exclusively  in  promoting,  entirely  unaided  by  the  State,  the  supply 
of  whatever  provision  was  made  for  the  elementary  education  of  the 
children  of  this  country.  Differing  mainly  in  (the  arrangements 
they  made  for  religious  instruction,  the  two  societies  agreed  very 
largely  in  the  principles  upon  which  they  carried  on  their  work. 
Both  devoted  themselves  principally  to  the  encouragement  of  local 
efforts  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  schools  ;  both  con- 
ducted model  schools  in  London,  in  connection  with  which  they 
carried  on  a  system  of  training  for  teachers ;  both  adopted  the  plan  of 
instruction  known  as  the  "  monitorial  system,"  under  which  the 
teacher  was  dependent  almost  entirely  upon  the  elder  scholars  for 
whatever  assistance  was  needed  in  carrying  on  the  instruction  ; 
both  originally  carried  on  their  schools  as  free  schools,  and  both 
gradually  introduced  the  system  of  requiring  small  weekly  payments 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  27 

from  the  parents,  as  a  means  of  obtaining  additional  income  and 
as  a  security  for  regularity  of  attendance.  The  National  Society, 
though  the  younger  of  the  two,  was  soon  enabled  by  its  superior 
wealth  to  far  outstrip  the  rival  society  in  the  extent  of  its  operations 
and  in  the  number  of  its  affiliated  schools. 

The  year  1833  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  education  in  this 
country  as  that  in  which,  for  the  first  time,  aid  was  afforded  by  the 
State  to  elementary  education.  The  amount  voted  by  Parliament 
was  only  £20,000  ;  but  this  modest  sum  marked  the  commencement 
of  a  new  era  in  which  practical  effect  has  been  increasingly  given  to 
the  principle — enunciated  for  the  first  time  publicly  in  this  country 
in  1816,  in^one  of  the  reports  of  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, of  which  Mr.  Brougham  was  Chairman — that  "the  education 
of  the  people  is  a  matter  in  which  the  State  has  a  vital  concern." 

The  disbursement  of  this  small  grant  was  confided  to  the  Treasury, 
by  whom,  in  obedience  to  the  Act  under  which  it  was  made,  it  was 
distributed  solely  "  in  aid  of  private  subscriptions  for  the  erection 
of  schools  for  the  education  of  children  of  the  poorer  classes  in 
Great  Britain."  Under  the  terms  of  the  Treasury  Minute  adopted 
on  the  30th  August,  1833,  assistance  was  given  only  in  cases  where 
a  report  either  from  the  National  Society  or  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society  satisfied  the  Treasury  that  the  application 
was  one  deserving  of  attention,  and  that  there  was  a  reasonable 
prospect  of  the  school  being  permanently  supported.  In  1835,  a 
special  grant  of  £10,000  was  made  by  Parliament  towards  the  erec- 
tion of  Normal  and  Model  Schools,  but  the  Treasury  appears  to 
have  experienced  so  much  difficulty  in  determining  how  best  to  apply 
this  sum  that  it  remained  in  their  hands  still  unappropriated  in 
1839. 

In  1839,  two  further  important  steps  were  taken ;  the  grant, 
increased  to  £30,000,  was  no  longer  limited  exclusively  to  the  erec- 
tion of  schools,  but  was  made  generally  for  the  promotion  of  public 
education ;  and  a  separate  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  was 
appointed  "  to  superintend  the  application  of  any  sums  voted  by 
Parliament "  for  that  purpose.  This  Committee  met  for  the  first 
time  on  the  1st  June,  1839,  when  they  adopted  a  report,  confirmed 
by  Order  in  Council  two  days  later,  by  which  they  recommended 
that  the  £10,000  voted  by  Parliament  in  1835  towards  the  establish- 
ment of  Normal  Schools  should  be  divided  equally  between  the 
National  Society  and  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  and 
that  the  annual  Parliamentary  grants  should  continue  to  be  chiefly 
applied  in  aid  of  subscriptions  for  building  schools  connected  with 
those  societies.  Power,  however,  was  reserved  to  devote  part  of  the 
fund  to  the  support,  in  particular  cases,  of  schools  similarly  con- 
nected ;  to  the  aid,  in  exceptional  cases,  of  other  schools ;  to  the 
conduct  of  enquiries  as  to  the  state  of  education  in  England  and 
Wales ;  and  to  carrying  out  a  system  of  Inspection  of  all  schools 
aided  by  the  State.  It  was  further  recommended  that  submission 
to  such  inspection  should  in  future  be  made  a  condition  of  any  aid 
granted  either  towards  the  establishment  or  support  of  normal  or 
other  schools. 


28  STATE    EDUCATION. 

This  claim  of  a  right  of  inspection,  which  appears  to  us  not 
merely  a  natural  corollary  to  the  grant  of  pecuniary  assistance,  but 
almost  an  inherent  duty  on  the  part  of  the  State,  gave  rise  at  the 
time  to  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  on  all  sides,  and  particularly  with 
the  supporters  of  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society.  With 
regard  to  schools  in  connection  with  the  National  Society  or  the 
Church  of  England,  the  difficulty  was  speedily  solved  by  an  arrange- 
ment that  the  Inspectors  for  such  schools  should  be  appointed,  and 
continue  in  office,  only  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  or  York,  as  the  case  might  be ;  that  the  instructions  to 
such  inspectors,  with  regard  to  religious  teaching,  should  be  framed 
by  the  Archbishops  ;  and  that  copies  of  the  Inspectors'  reports 
should  be  sent  to  them  and  to  the  Bishops  of  the  respective  dioceses. 
Similar  arrangements  were  about  the  same  time  made  in  respect  of 
schools  connected  with  the  Church  of  Scotland — the  Committee  of 
Council  undertaking  to  consult  the  Education  Committee  of  the 
General  Assembly  with  respect  to  the  selection  of  the  inspectors  of 
such  schools.  In  reference  to  the  British  Schools,  however,  the 
controversy  lasted  for  some  years,  being  settled  in  the  end  by  the 
Committee  of  Council  making  a  similar  concession  in  this  as  in  the 
other  cases,  and  agreeing  that  the  Inspectors  should  not  be  appointed 
without  the  entire  concurrence  of  the  Society.  Even  this  arrange- 
ment was  not  arrived  at  without  entailing  the  secession  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  Society's  supporters,  who  formed  themselves 
into  a  new  organization  for  the  promotion  of  schools  which  should 
be  entirety  free  from  support  or  control  by  the  Government. 

The  next  important  step  in  the  progress  of  our  educational 
system  was  made  in  1846,  when  what  is  known  as  the  Pupil- 
Teacher  system  was  introduced  in  place  of  the  monitorial ;  both 
the  payment  of  the  pupil-teachers  themselves  and  the  remunera- 
tion of  the  Head  teachers  for  instructing  them  being  directly 
undertaken  by  the  State.  Exhibitions  of  £20  or  £25  were  also 
provided  to  enable  the  more  promising  pupil-teachers,  i  on  the 
completion  of  their  apprenticeship,  to  enter  a  normal  school ; 
and  payments  of  £20  at  the  end  of  the  first,  £25  at  the  end  of 
the  second,  and  £30  at  the  end  of  the  third  year  of  instruction, 
were  offered  to  the  managers  of  such  school  for  each  student 
satisfactorily  trained  by  them  for  three  years.  At  the  same  time, 
as  a  further  inducement  for  teachers  to  undergo  a  course  of 
training,  a  special  payment,  varying  from  £15  to  £30  a  year  in 
the  case  of  a  schoolmaster,  and  of  two-thirds  of  those  amounts  in 
the  case  of  a  schoolmistress,  was  promised  to  each  teacher  who, 
after  one,  two,  or  three  years'  training,  accepted  appointment  to  a 
school  under  inspection.  Power  was  also  taken  for  the  Committee 
of  Council  to  grant  a  pension  to  any  teacher  who,  after  fifteen  years' 
service,  should  be  rendered  incapable  by  age  or  infirmity  of  con- 
tinuing to  teach  a  school  efficiently.  These  regulations  practically 
transformed  the  teachers  into  paid  servants  of  the  State. 

The  rule  limiting  aid  almost  exclusively  to  schools  connected 
with  either  the  National  or  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society 
was  repealed  in  1847 ;  and,  on  the  28th  June  and  18th  December 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  29 

of  that  year  respectively,  minutes  were  passed  admitting  to  the  bene- 
fits of  Government  aid  schools  connected  with  either  the  Wesleyan 
Association,  or  the  Eoman  Catholic  Poor  School  Committee. 

In  1853,  capitation  grants  were  introduced  tentatively,  in  agricul- 
tural districts  and  unincorporated  towns  of  less  than  5,000  inhabit- 
ants. The  amount  varied  from  4s.  to  6s.  per  head  in  the  case  of 
boys',  and  from  3s.  to  5s.  in  the  case  of  girls'  schools,  according  to 
the  relative  smallness  of  the  schools ;  and  the  grant  was  subject  to 
certain  conditions  as  to  income,  attendance,  and  results — of  which, 
probably,  those  most  deserving  of  attention  at  the  present  time  were 
the  requirements  that  each  scholar  should  pay  a  fee  of  not  less  than 
\d.  per  week,  and  that  three-fourths  at  least  of  the  children  should 
pass  certain  prescribed  examinations.  The  restriction  of  these 
grants  to  agricultural  districts  and  small  towns  was  removed  in 
January,  1856,  and  from  that  time  the  Capitation  Grant  became  a 
distinct  feature,  of  universal  application,  in  the  Government's  scheme 
of  assistance  to  elementary  schools. 

In  1856,  a  Vice-President  of  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Educa- 
tion was  appointed,  who  should  be  directly  responsible  to  the  House 
of  Commons  for  the  distribution  of  the  sums  voted  by  them  for  the 
promotion  of  education. 

The  appointment,  in  1858,  of  a  Royal  Commission  (usually  known 
as  the  Duke  of  Newcastle's  Commission)  to  enquire  into  the  state  of 
popular  education  in  the  country,  marks  the  close  of  what  may  be 
called  the  period  of  tentative  development  in  the  relations  of  the 
State  to  education — a  period  which  had  lasted  for  just  one  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  during  which  the  annual  Parliamentary  vote  had 
grown  in  amount  from  £20,000  to  little  less  than  £700,000. 

The  report  of  that  Commission,  presented  early  in  1861,  contained 
many  important  recommendations,  to  scarcely  any  of  which  has  effect 
been  given  to  the  present  day.  They  would,  to  some  extent,  have 
approximated  our  educational  system  to  that  which  had  then  been 
recently  introduced  into  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada,  and  upon 
which  many  educational  reformers  still  look  as  a  model  for  imitation. 
The  report  suggested  the  universal  creation  of  County  and  Borough 
Boards  of  Education,  to  whom  the  duty  of  examining  the  schools  in 
their  respective  districts  should  be  delegated,  and  who  should  be 
required  to  supplement  the  Parliamentary  grant  by  payments  from 
the  local  rates.  On  the  other  hand,  it  recommended  that  the  State 
should  cease  to  make  payments  to  individual  teachers,  dealing  exclu- 
sively in  future  with  the  managers  of  schools,  and  that  to  secure 
the  more  uniform  distribution  of  the  teaching  given  in  schools,  each 
child  should  be  individually  examined,  and  "  the  prospects  and  posi- 
tion of  the  teacher"  made  "dependent,  to  a  considerable  extent,  on  the 
results  of  this  examination." 

In  the  following  year,  Mr.  Lowe,  then  Vice-President  of  the 
Committee  of  Council,  introduced  what  is  known  as  the  "  Revised 
Code  "  for  regulating  the  future  distribution  of  the  Parliamentary 
grant — a  document  professedly  based  upon  the  recommendations  of 
the  Royal  Commission,  but  which  in  fact  did  little  more  than  adopt, 
in  a  crude  and  most  objectionable  form,  the  single  recommendation 


30  STATE    EDUCATION. 

of  the  Commissioners  for  " individual  examination"  and  "payment 
by  results."  On  the  principle  of  "  payment  by  results "  much 
difference  of  opinion  still  exists,  but  of  the  method  by  which  it  was 
sought  to  apply  that  principle  in  the  "  Revised  Code  "  there  is, 
among  educationalists,  practical  unanimity  of  condemnation. 

The  withdrawal  from  them,  without  any  form  of  compensation, 
of  the  direct  payments,  and  particularly  of  the  prospects  of  super- 
annuation, previously  guaranteed  them,  has  always  been  denounced 
by  the  teachers  affected,  as  a  distinct  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  Government — a  breach  of  faith  which  has  ever  since  led  teachers 
to  adopt  an  attitude  of  suspicion  towards  the  central  authorities. 

The  principles  introduced  by  the  Revised  Code,  into  the  system 
upon  which  the  Parliamentary  Grant  is  distributed,  remain  in  force 
to  the  present  day,  though  the  details  of  their  application  have  been 
very  much  modified,  and  its  area  greatly  extended  during  the  interval. 
It  is,  however,  by  no  means  improbable  that  before  these  lines  appear 
in  print,  proposals  will  have  been  made  by  the  Government  which, 
without  absolutely  abandoning  those  principles,  will  so  far  modify 
their  application  as  to  permit  the  restoration  of  the  better  features 
of  the  earlier  system,  while  excluding  the  evils  by  which  they  were 
then  attended. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  subject  is  too  recent,  and  too  much 
within  the  memory  of  the  general  public,  to  need  more  than  such  a 
passing  reference  as  will  recall  to  mind  its  most  prominent  incidents. 
In  1870  was  passed  the  first  of  the  Education  Acts.  It  had  for  its 
object  to  secure  that  there  should  be  in  "  every  school  district  a 
sufficient  amount  of  accommodation  in  public  elementary  schools  " 
for  "  all  the  children  resident  in  such  district "  ;  incidentally  it  pro- 
vided for  the  formation  under  certain  circumstances  of  School 
Boards,  and  permitted  such  boards  when  formed  to  make  school 
attendance  compulsory  in  their  respective  districts.  The  Act  passed 
in  1876  placed  for  the  first  time  on  the  Statute  book  a  declaration 
that  it  is  "  the  duty  of  the  parent  of  every  child  to  cause  such  child 
to  receive  efficient  elementary  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,"  and  provided  certain  penalties  for  non-fulfilment  of  this 
duty — creating,  for  districts  not  under  School  Boards,  a  new  class  of 
authorities,  called  School  Attendance  Committees,  for  its  enforce- 
ment. Besides  these  two  main  enactments,  Acts  of  minor  import- 
ance were  passed  in  1873  and  1880. 

Within  the  last  few  years  two  important  Royal  Commissions  have 
examined  and  reported  on  various  aspects  of  the  educational  s}7stem, 
making  numerous  recommendations  which  still  await  the  necessary 
steps  being  taken  for  carrying  them  into  effect.  The  first  was  the 
Royal  Commission  on  Technical  Instruction  appointed  in  1881 ;  the 
second,  that  nominated  in  Januaiy,  1886,  to  enquire  into  the  working 
of  the  Education  Acts.  Whenever  practical  operation  is  given  to  the 
suggestions  of  these  Commissions,  elementary  education  in  this 
country  will  enter  on  an  entirely  new  era,  and  one  fraught  with 
momentous  effects  on  the  well  being  of  the  nation. 

The  distinctive  features  which  the  course  of  its  development,  as 
traced  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  has  impressed  upon  our  English 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  31 

system  of  elementary  education — those  in  which  it  differs  from  the 
corresponding  systems  of  every  other  country — may  be  said  to  be  : — 

(1.)  Its  dual  system  of  management,  under  which  two-thirds  of  the 
provision  for  elementary  education  is  in  the  hands  of  private 
managers ; 

(2.)  The  arrangements  by  which  a  system  that,  so  far  as  the 
State  is  concerned,  is  professedly  an  entirely  secular  one, 
is  in  reality  of  a  pronouncedly  religious,  and  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  of  a  distinctly  denominational  character; 

(3.)  The  fact  that  the  supervision  of  the  central  authority  is  based, 
not  upon  any  inherent  right  in  the  State  to  regulate  the  education 
of  its  future  citizens,  but  upon  the  share  which  it  bears  in  the 
cost  of  the  education  provided  ;  and 

(4.)  The  system  by  which  the  amount  of  the  central  authority's 
contribution  towards  the  maintenance  of  a  school  is  regu- 
lated— a  system  popularly  known  by  the  name  of  "  payment 
by  results." 

Other  conspicuous  features  of  the  system,  but  in  which  it  is  not  so 
markedly  contrasted  with  those  of  other  nations  are  : — 

The  methods  adopted  for  the  selection  and  training  of  teachers  ; 

The  contribution  by  the  parents  in  the  form  of  school  fees  ;  and 

The  arrangements  for  enforcing  school  attendance,  and  for  dealing 
with  the  children  of  vicious  or  criminal  parents. 

From  the  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  the  system  which  has 
just  been  given  it  will  be  seen  that,  following  the  example  of  the  two 
societies  which  acted  as  pioneers  in  the  work,  the  Government  of 
this  country  has  throughout  limited  its  action  almost  exclusively  to 
fostering  local  effort.  In  the  course  pursued  for  this  purpose  it 
deliberately  relied — so  long  as  it  could  do  so  entirely — upon  the 
zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  the  various  religious  bodies ;  and  it  was  only 
when  these  proved  unequal  to  the  enormous  task  of  providing  and 
maintaining  school  accommodation  for  the  whole  of  the  child 
population  of  the  kingdom  that  resort  was  had  to  any  other  form  of 
local  effort.  The  object  and  effect  of  the  Government's  action  was 
very  accurately  described  by  Sir  J.  Kay- Shuttle  worth  (a  former 
Secretary  of  the  Education  Department),  in  his  "  Memorandum  on 
Public  Education"  drawn  up  in  1868.  He  says  "  The  intention  of 
the  Minutes  of  1846  was  to  give  an  impulse  to  the  growth  and 
improvement  of  the  system  founded  by  the  religious  communities  ;  " 
and  he  states  that  the  steps  adopted  with  that  object  "drew  every 
religious  communion,  except  the  Congregational  dissenters  and 
bodies  allied  with  them,  into  co-operation  with  the  Government, 
and  created  a  vast  denominational  system,  which  firmly  established 
popular  education  on  a  religious  basis."  So  far,  at  one  time,  was 
this  reliance  upon  the  religious  denominations  carried,  that  in  1853 
the  Committee  of  Council  refused  an  application  for  aid  to  a  secular 
school  on  the  ground  "  that  educational  grants  had  not  hitherto 
been  applicable  to  schools  exclusively  secular  " — adding  "  that  they 
believed  that  such  a  decision  was  in  accordance  with  the  views  of 
the  great  majority  of  the  promoters  of  education;  "  "under  these 


32  STATE    EDUCATION. 

circumstances,"  the^y  concluded,  "  they  had  no  intention  of  rescinding 
the  rule  on  which  they  had  hitherto  acted."  Although  the  rule  here 
mentioned  was  at  a  later  period  somewhat  relaxed,  it  was  still  true 
in  1870  that  almost  the  whole  of  the  schools  in  receipt  of  Govern- 
ment assistance  were  directly  connected  with  one  or  other  of  the 
various  religious  denominations  in  the  country,  and,  subject  to 
inspection  by  the  officers  of  the  Department,  were  managed  exclu- 
sively by  private  persons  belonging  to  those  denominations. 

The  Act  of  1870,  though  it  brought  into  existence  local  bodies 
charged  with  the  duty  of  supplying  whatever  deficiencies  might  be 
found  to  exist  in  the  school  accommodation  of  their  respective 
districts,  was  instrumental  in  greatly  increasing  the  number  of 
schools  under  private  and  denominational  management.  On  the 
one  hand,  while  withdrawing  for  the  future  all  parliamentary  grants 
4 'in  aid  of  building,  enlarging,  improving,  or  fitting  up  any  elemen- 
tary school,"  it  permitted  such  grants  to  be  made  in  respect  of  any 
application  received  before  the  close  of  the  year  in  which  it  was 
passed ;  and,  on  the  other,  it  provided  that,  before  any  district 
should  be  called  upon  to  provide  Board  School  accommodation,  a 
period  not  exceeding  six  months  should  be  allowed  for  the  deficiency 
in  accommodation  to  be  provided  by  voluntary  means.  No  less 
than  3,111  applications  for  building  grants  were  lodged  within  the 
prescribed  period,  in  about  half  of  which  number  the  erection  of  the 
building  was  subsequently  carried  out  with  the  aid  of  a  grant. 
Since  that  time,  4,800  tnew  or  enlarged  buildings  have  without 
Government  assistance  been  added  to  the  number  of  voluntary 
schools,  in  many,  if  not  in  most  of  which  cases  the  direct  object  of 
the  provision  has  been  to  prevent  the  necessity  arising  for  the 
formation  of  a  School  Board.  In  1870,  the  officers  of  the  Depart- 
ment inspected  8,281  schools,  all  under  private  management,  with 
accommodation  for  1,878,584  children.  In  1888,  they  visited 
14,659  schools  of  this  kind,  with  accommodation  for  3,547,073 
children.  It  is  estimated  by  the  Education  Department  that  these 
additions  from  voluntary  sources  to  the  educational  provision  of  the 
country  have  entailed  upon  their  promoters  an  expenditure,  on 
buildings  alone,  since  1870,  of  nearly  £7,500,000. 

But  in  one  respect  a  complete  revolution  in  the  action  of  the 
Department  was  brought  about  by  the  Act  of  1870.  While  per- 
mission was  continued  to  private  managers  to  supply  what  religious 
teaching  they  pleased  in  the  schools  under  their  control,  and 
option  was  given  to  the  public  bodies  created  under  that  Act  to 
afford  religious  instruction  of  an  undenominational  character,  the 
direct  connection  of  the  State  with  such  instruction,  whether 
denominational  or  undenominational  in  its  character,  was  absolutely 
severed.  H.M.  inspectors  were  prohibited  from  examining  the 
scholars  in  other  than  secular  subjects,  and  no  portion  of  the  grant 
was  to  be  given,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  on  account  of  any 
religious  instruction  given  in  the  school;  nor  was  the  Depart- 
ment's recognition  of  a  school  to  be  in  any  way  affected  by  its 
supplying  or  failing  to  supply  instruction  in  religious  subjects. 

At  the  time  when  the  Act  of  1870  was  passed,  there  were  very  few 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  33 

of  the  large  towns  in  which  the  educational  zeal  of  the  religious 
bodies  had  been  able  to  keep  fpace  with  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
population  ;  while  even  in  country  places  the  number  of  parishes 
adequately  supplied  with  school  accommodation  bore  a  comparatively 
small  proportion  to  the  whole  number.  Taking  the  kingdom  as  a 
whole,  provision  did  not  exist  for  the  needs  of  much  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  entire  population,  and  the  system  on  which  even  this 
provision  had  been  made,  had  the  additional  drawback  that  it  left 
districts  untouched  precisely  in  proportion  to  their  poverty  or  lack 
of  enterprise.  Inadequate  and  unsatisfactory  though  these  results  may 
appear,  they  were  the  outcome  of  sustained  educational  efforts  during 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century,  and  of  the  voluntary  expenditure 
of  several  millions  of  money — not  to  mention  the  ever-increasing 
contributions  by  the  State  during  about  half  that  period.  It  was 
clear,  therefore,  that  if  the  accommodation  was  ever  to  overtake  the 
educational  needs  of  the  country,  and  especially  if  education  was  to 
penetrate  into  the  poorest  and  most  backward  districts,  the  system 
which  had  previously  existed  must  at  least  be  supplemented  from 
some  other  quarter.  The  Act  of  1870  accordingly  introduced  a 
machinery  by  which  either  at  the  request  of  the  locality,  or  in  the 
event  of  sufficient  school  provision  not  being  supplied  by  other 
means  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Education  Department,  a  School 
Board  might  be  called  into  existence  in  any  district,  whose  duty  it 
would  be  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  accommodation  at  the  cost  of 
the  local  rates.  The  new  Act  was  at  once  voluntarily  adopted  by 
all  but  one  of  the  boroughs  with  a  population  of  50,000  or  more,  by 
a  majority  of  the  smaller  boroughs,  and  by  a  considerable  number 
of  parishes.  Before  three  j^ears  were  expired  nearly  half  the  popula- 
tion in  England  and  Wales  had,  mainly  by  this  means,  been  brought 
under  the  influence  of  School  Boards.  The  subsequent  extension 
of  the  system  has  not  been  equally  rapid  nor  so  generally  voluntary; 
but,  at  the  present  time,  the  districts  under  School  Boards  comprise 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  total  population  of  the  kingdom. 

The  share,  however,  of  the  school  accommodation  of  the  country 
which  it  has  fallen  to  School  Boards  to  provide  has  not  been  by  any 
means  equally  large.  The  total  number  of  schools  which  they  have 
either  erected  or  taken  over  is,  according  to  the  latest  returns  of  the 
Education  Department,  4,562,  with  accommodation  for  1,809,481 
children,  and  provided  at  a  cost  of  some  £20,000,000. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  provision  for  elementary  education  in 
this  country  is  supplied  by  19,221  schools,  with  a  total  accommoda- 
tion for  5,356,554  children — of  which  rather  more  than  one-third  is 
supplied  by  Board,  and  the  remainder  by  voluntary  schools.  The 
former  are  as  a  rule  larger  and  more  costly  than  the  latter — their 
average  size  being  for  897  children  as  compared  with  242,  the  average 
of  the  voluntary  schools.  The  difference  in  size,  and  partially  in 
cost,  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
Board  than  of  the  voluntary  schools  are  to  be  found  in  the  great 
centres  of  population.  Of  the  voluntary  schools,  nearly  five-sixths 
in  number  (11,825),  with  five-sevenths  of  the  accommodation,  are 
connected  with  the  Church  of  England.  The  remaining  2,834  in- 

VOL.    I.  D 


34  STATE    EDUCATION. 

elude  909  Roman  Catholic  and  553  Wesleyan  Schools,  while  1,372 
are  British  or  undenominational. 

All  these  are  what  are  called  "  public  elementary  schools  "  ;  that 
is  to  say,  schools  which,  whether  or  not  primarily  intended  for 
children  belonging  to  a  particular  religious  body,  are  open  to  children 
of  all  denominations,  and  in  which  the  religious  opinions  of  the 
minority  are  safeguarded  by  a  "  Conscience  Clause."  Section  7  of 
the  Act  of  1870  provides  that,  for  a  school  to  be  a  Public  Elementary 
School  and  qualified  to  participate  in  the  Government  grant,  "  it 
shall  not  be  required  as  a  condition  of  any  child  being  admitted  into 
or  continuing  in  the  school  that  he  shall  attend  or  abstain  from 
attending  any  Sunday  School  or  any  place  of  public  worship,"  and 
that  "  any  scholar  may  be  withdrawn  by  his  parent  from"  any  religious 
"observance  or  instruction  "  practised  or  given  in  the  school  "  without 
forfeiting  any  of  the  other  benefits  of  the  school," — with  several  minor 
provisions  having  the  same  object  in  view.  In  a  Board  School,  it 
is  further  provided,  by  section  14,  that  "no  religious  catechism  or 
religious  formulary  which  is  distinctive  of  any  particular  denomination 
shall  be  taught ;  "  subject,  however,  to  this  restriction,  it  is  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  School  Board  to  give  or  withhold  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  to  regulate  the  amount  and  character  of  the  instruction  if 
given.  In  the  arrangements  which  have  been  adopted  by  School 
Boards  in  the  exercise  of  this  discretion  there  is  almost  infinite 
variety — extending  from  the  mere  reading  of  a  chapter  of  Scripture 
without  note  or  comment  to  the  giving  of  systematic  instruction  in 
Scripture  in  accordance  with  a  definite  syllabus,  which  includes  the 
learning  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and,  in 
some  cases,  the  Apostles'  Creed.  How  far  the  Board  Schools,  as  a 
whole,  are  from  being  justly  open  to  the  charge  of  giving  a  "God- 
less "  education  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from 
the  Report  of  the  late  Royal  Commission  on  Education  (page  113), 
viz. : — "  We  find  that  out  of  2,225  School  Boards,  representing  the 
judgment  of  more  than  sixteen  millions  of  our  population,  only  seven 
in  England  and  50  in  Wales,  according  to  the  Parliamentary  Returns 
of  1879,  1884,  and  1886,  have  dispensed  entirely  with  Religious 
Teaching  or  Observances.  Most  of  the  School  Boards  of  large 
towns,  following  the  example  of  London,  have  adopted  careful 
schemes  for  Religious  Instruction.  Of  the  large  School  Boards, 
one  alone  dispenses  with  reading  the  Bible,  and  one  other  alone 
dispenses  with  prayers  and  hymns,  while  those  small  Boards  which 
shut  out  direct  religious  teaching  from  their  day  schools  are,  in  the 
most  part,  in  Wales.,  where  the  Sunday- School  system  powerfully 
affects  the  whole  population."  The  charge,  groundless  though  it 
is,  is  a  somewhat  double-edged  weapon ;  for  it  is  an  imputation  not 
so  much  upon  the  School  Board  system  as  upon  the  religious 
character  of  the  constituencies  who  elect,  and  whose  opinions  are 
represented  by,  the  Boards,  and  therefore  inferentially  upon  the 
religious  teachers  who  are  very  largely  responsible  for  the  views  of 
the  community  on  religious  matters.  In  this  respect  there  can  be 
little  ultimate  difference  between  voluntary  and  Board  Schools ;  since 
the  security  for  the  religious  character  of  both  alike  rests,  in  the  last 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  35 

resort,  on  a  common  basis,  viz. :  the  religious  convictions  of  the 
nation.  On  this  point  the  following  remark  of  a  clergyman,  who  is 
at  once  a  prominent  educationalist  and  a  sincere  friend  of  voluntary 
schools,  is  worthy  of  the  most  careful  consideration  by  those  who 
advocate  a  religious  basis  for  elementary  education.  He  says : 
"  English  parents  will  not  readily  be  induced  to  permit  the  elimina- 
tion of  religion  from  the  curriculum  taught  to  their  children.  If 
England  should  be  securalized,  nothing  could  then  stop  the  seculari- 
zation of  English  schools.  But  the  schools  will  not  be  secularized 
so  long  as  the  nation  continues  to  be  religious." 

In  all  these  schools,  Board  and  voluntary  alike,  the  actual 
management  and  the  financial  responsibility  rests  with  the  locality. 
The  managers  or  the  School  Board  appoint  and  pay  the  teachers, 
maintain  the  fabric,  and  supply  the  books,  apparatus,  and  all  other 
articles  necessary  for  the  efficiency  of  the  school.  The  action  of  the 
Government  is  limited  almost  exclusively  to  ascertaining,  by  means 
of  their  staff  of  Inspectors,  that  the  statutory  regulations  are  com- 
plied with,  and  the  conditions,  as  to  efficiency,  staff,  sanitary  arrange- 
ments, &c.,  required  to  qualify  for  a  grant,  duly  fulfilled.  Failure  in 
these  respects  may  be  punished  by  the  reduction,  or  withholding, 
of  the  grant,  or  in  the  case  of  a  Board  School  may,  if  serious,  be 
visited  by  a  declaration  that  the  Board  is  in  "  default,"  whereupon 
the  Board  may  itself  be  superseded  for  the  remainder  of  its  three 
years'  term  by  another  appointed  by  the  Education  Department. 

The  aggregate  cost  of  carrying  on  these  schools  amounted  during 
the  last  year  to  £7,165,612,  or  slightly  less  than  £2  for  each  child 
in  average  attendance — of  which  sum  rather  more  than  three-quarters 
was  paid  for  the  salaries  of  teachers.  The  cost  in  Board  Schools 
amounted  to  £2  4s.  7Jd.  per  child,  and  in  voluntary  to  £1  16s.  4d. 
—the  former  paying  6s.  5^d.  per  child  more  for  teachers  than  the 
latter.  The  £4,075,430  of  expenditure  on  voluntary  schools  was 
met  (nearly)  by  a  grant  of  £1,874,315  from  the  Government 
(equal  to  17s.  Ifd.  per  head  on  the  average  attendance),  £1,240,287 
from  school  fees,  £162,180  income  from  endowments,  and  £745,340 
from  voluntary  contributions.  The  £3,090,182  expended  on  Board 
Schools  was  slightly  more  than  covered  by  income,  derived  as 
follows : — £1,195,070  from  Government  grants  (equal  to  18s.  IJd. 
per  head  on  the  average  attendance),  £621,416  from  school  fees, 
£3,902  from  endowments  or  voluntary  contributions,  and  £1,231,787 
from  the  local  rates.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  schools,  a  further  sum 
of  £968,145  was  paid  during  the  year  for  the  sinking  fund  on  the 
cost  of  erection. 

The  conditions  which  regulate  the  amount  of  the  Government 
grant  to  individual  schools,  are  contained  in  a  document  entitled 
the  "  New  Code,"  which  is  laid  annually  before  Parliament,  with 
such  alterations  as  ma}7  from  time  to  time  be  considered  desirable. 
Though  considerable  changes  have  been  introduced  in  late  years, 
these  conditions  are  still  based  on  the  principle  of  "  payment  by 
results,"  introduced  by  Mr.  Lowe  in  1862.  They  necessarily  differ 
somewhat  in  their  application  to  Infants'  Schools  and  schools 
for  older  scholars.  To  the  former,  the  grants  are  all  calculated  on 

D  2 


36  STATE    EDUCATION. 

the  average  attendance,  and  consist,  (i.)  of  a  fixed  grant  of  9s.  per 
head;  (ii.)  of  a  "Merit"  grant  of  2s.,  4s.,  or  6s.  according  as  the 
Inspector  reports  the  school  to  be  "fair,"  "good,"  or  "excellent"  ; 
(iii.)  of  Is.  if  needlework  be  satisfactorily  taught ;  and  (iv.)  of  Is.  (or 
Gd.)  if  the  children  are  taught  to  sing  by  note  (or  by  ear)  ;  the 
maximum  receivable  by  a  purely  Infants'  School  is,  therefore,  17s.  per 
head.  The  grants  payable  to  schools  for  older  scholars  consist,  (i.) 
of  a  fixed  grant  of  4s.  Qd.  per  head ;  (ii.)  of  a  merit  grant  of  Is.,  2s. 
or  3s.  according  as  the  school  is  rated  "fair,"  "good,"  or 
"excellent";  (iii.)  of  Is.  (or  6d.)  if  the  children  are  taught  to  sing  by 
notes  (or  by  ear)  ;  (iv.)  of  Id.  for  every  unit  of  the  percentage  which 
the  number  of  "  passes  "  on  an  examination  of  each  individual  child 
in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  bears  to  the  whole  number  of  the 
children  whose  names  have  been  on  the  rolls  of  the  school  for  the 
twenty-two  weeks  immediately  preceding  the  close  of  the  month  before 
that  in  which  the  examination  is  held ;  (v.)  of  2s.  (or  Is.)  for  each  of 
two  (if  so  many  are  taken)  of  the  subjects,  English,  Geography, 
Elementary  Science,  History,  and  (for  girls)  Needlework,  if  the 
Inspector's  report  on  the  examination  of  the  children  by  classes  is 
good  or  fair ;  (vi.)  of  Is.  if  the  girls  are  satisfactorily  taught  needle- 
work, but  not  presented  for  the  last-mentioned  grant  for  that  subject : 
—these  six  items  are  calculated  upon  the  average  attendance — and 
(vii.)  of  4s.  per  head  per  subject  for  each  of  the  elder  girls  who  has 
received  a  prescribed  amount  of  instruction  in  Practical  Cookery, 
and  for  each  child  who  passes  in  not  more  than  two  "  specific  "  sub- 
jects, i.e.,  subjects  other  than  those  previously  mentioned — provided 
that  such  child  has  also  been  presented  for  examination  in  one  of  the 
highest  three  grades  (or  standards)  into  which  the  elementary  sub- 
jects are  divided.  The  maximum  grant  obtainable  under  these  rules 
for  any  boy  is  £1  8s.  10^.,  and  for  any  girl  £1  9s.  lOd. — the  average 
actually  earned  being  about  18s.  A  further  grant  is  made  of  £2,  or 
£3,  for  each  of  a  limited  number  of  pupil-teachers  who  passes  fairly, 
or  well,  in  the  annual  examinations  for  such  teachers  held  by  H.M. 
Inspectors.  The  total  amount  of  grant,  which  can  be  paid  to  any 
particular  school,  is  subject  to  the  further  condition,  that  it  shall  not 
exceed  17s.  Qd.  per  head  on  the  average  attendance,  except  to  the 
same  extent  that  the  income  of  the  school  from  other  sources  also 
exceeds  that  amount ;  this  restriction  is  popularly  known  by  the 
name  of  "  the  17s.  6d.  limit." 

Both  the  principle  of  "  payment  by  results/'  and  "  the  17s.  6d. 
limit "  have  been  the  subjects  of  strenuous  and  prolonged  controversy. 
With  regard  to  the  former  it  is  contended  that  it  is  essential  Parlia- 
ment should  have  sufficient  security  that  the  purposes  for  which  it 
votes  the  public  money  are  in  fact  attained,  and  that  where  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  schools  aided  are  under  the  sole  control  of 
private  and  irresponsible  persons,  the  only  adequate  guarantee 
possible  is  supplied  by  the  searching  examinations  of  H.M.  Inspec- 
tors. It  is  also  urged  that  the  abrogation  of  the  system  would  lead 
to  a  revival  of  the  evil,  previously  obtaining,  of  the  elder  and 
brighter  scholars  receiving  an  undue  amount  of  attention,  and  of  the 
younger  and  more  backward  being  comparatively  neglected.  It  is 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  37 

likewise  maintained  by  some  prominent  educationalists  that  the 
system,  in  some  form,  affords  the  only  security  for  the  adequate 
remuneration  of  the  more  deserving  teachers  ;  for  if  the  ready  means 
now  afforded,  of  approximately  estimating  the  relative  ability  of 
different  teachers,  were  removed,  the  representatives  of  the  ratepayers 
at  least  would  have  much  difficulty  in  justifying  the  payment  to  one 
teacher  of  more  than  to  another,  with  the  inevitable  result  that 
salaries  would  tend  more  and  more  to  sink  to  a  dead  level.  In 
support  of  this  view  it  is  pointed  out  that  already  the  salaries 
of  teachers  in  England  have  risen  to  a  level  higher  on  the  average 
than  that  obtaining  in  any  other  large  country,  and  that  this  rise 
shows  no  signs  of  ceasing.  In  1851  it  was  calculated  that  the  average 
salary  of  certificated  masters — taking  head  and  assistant  teachers 
together— was  only  £65  ;  in  1868  it  was  £91 ;  in  1877,  £115  ;  and  in 
1888,  £120  ;  while  between  the  last-mentioned  dates  the  percentage 
of  the  total  number  receiving  salaries  of  £200  a  year  or  more,  rose 
from  5*6  to  12*75,  and  the  actual  number  receiving  £300  a  year  or 
more,  increased  fivefold.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  notwithstanding 
the  relatively  much  higher  cost  of  living,  the  average  income  of 
schoolmasters  is  given  at  409*27  dollars  or  a  fraction  over  £85  a 
year. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  evils  of  the  system  are  very  widely  and 
very  strongly  urged.  In  the  first  place,  when  the  Government  pay  so 
much  per  subject,  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  place  some  limit  upon 
the  number  of  subjects  taken,  and  this  necessarily  leads  to  the 
curriculum  in  the  schools  being  unduly  meagre  ;  it  is  difficult  to  say 
whether  a  knowledge  of  History  or  of  Geography  is  the  more  im- 
portant to  the  future  citizens  and  rulers  of  a  world-wide  empire,  yet 
both  cannot  be  taken — nor  either,  except  to  the  exclusion  of  Elementary 
Science,  than  which  perhaps  no  subject,  except  drawing,  forms  a 
more  important  part  in  the  education  of  a  great  industrial  people. 
Again  the  endeavour  to  bring  up  all  children  to  the  same  level  regard- 
less of  the  diversity  in  their  natural  abilities,  lea^s  to  the  over-pressure 
of  the  dull,  and  to  the  neglect,  and  consequent  discouragement  of 
the  clever.  A  system,  moreover,  under  which  the  exclusion  of  a  few 
backward  children  would  directly  increase  the  teacher's  emoluments, 
as  well  as  diminish  his  trouble,  offers  an  almost  irresistible  tempta- 
tion to  the  adoption  of  that  course  ;  while  nothing  more  directly 
tends  to  induce,  one.  might  .almost  say  to  manufacture,  truancy, 
than  this  discouragement,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  backward,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  of  the  brilliant  children.  The  necessity 
of  making  each  child  "pass"  leads  inevitably  to  "  cram  "being 
substituted  for  teaching ;  with  the  result  that  a  very  large  portion 
of  the  "knowledge"  paid  for  by  the  State  is  forgotten  almost 
immediately  it  has  served  the  purpose  of  getting  the  child  through 
the  examination.  After  weighing  carefully,  as  they  say,  all  the 
evidence  laid  before  them  tending  to  show  the  evils  which  arise  from 
the  present  method  of  payment  by  results,  the  late  Royal  Commission 
on  Education  expressed  the  conviction  ''that  the  distribution  of  the 
Parliamentary  grant  cannot  be  wholly  freed  from  its  present  depen- 
dence on  the  results  of  examination  without  the  risk  of  incurring 


38  STATE    EDUCATION. 

graver  evils  than  those  which  it  is  sought  to  cure/'  Nevertheless,  they 
added  that  they  were  "  unanimously  of  opinion  that  the  present 
system  of  *  payment  by  results '  is  carried  too  far,  and  is  too  rigidly 
applied,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  modified  and  relaxed  in  the  interests 
equally  of  the  scholars,  of  the  teachers,  and  of  education  itself."  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  effect  will,  to  a  large  extent,  be  given  to 
these  opinions  of  the  Commissioners  in  the  forthcoming  revised 
edition  of  the  New  Code. 

"The  17s.  Gd.  limit"  was  imposed  for  the  purpose,  which  its 
supporters  contend  it  has  fulfilled,  of  inducing  greater  liberality  on 
the  part  of  voluntary  subscribers,  and  it  is  urged  that  any  relaxation 
of  this  rule  would  be  immediately  followed  by  a  falling  off  in  receipts 
from  private  sources.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  certainly  had  the 
effect  of  inducing  managers,  very  often  much  against  their  will,  to 
raise  their  fees  to  the  utmost  obtainable,  and  thus  of  increasing  the 
burden  which  the  education  of  their  children  entails  upon  the  poor. 
The  income  derived  by  voluntary  schools  from  this  source  was 
8s.  l\d.  in  1868,  and  in  1888,  11s.  Ojrf.,  an  increase  of  28'5  per  cent. 
The  principal  objection,  however,  that  is  raised  to  the  limitation  is, 
that  its  effect  is  almost  exclusively  confined  to  schools,  which,  though 
situated  in  poor  neighbourhoods,  are  carried  on  with  thorough 
efficiency ;  that  its  effect  on  such  schools  is  in  direct  proportion  to 
their  efficiency ;  and  that  it  cripples  the  education  of  the  poor  by 
discouraging  the  managers  and  teachers  undertaking  subjects  the 
grants  for  which  would  be  earned  only  to  be  withheld  under  this 
provision.  For  its  ostensible  purpose,  moreover,  the  limitation  is 
not  particularly  successful ;  for  the  school  in  which  only  low  fees 
can  be  charged  frequently  suffers  deduction  under  this  clause,  not- 
withstanding that  the  managers  have  raised  considerable  sums  from 
voluntary  sources,  while  a  school  with  high  fees  will  receive  its  grant 
in  full,  though  the  managers  may  contribute  little  or  nothing  to  its 
maintenance.  The  Commissioners  accordingly  recommend  that  the 
limitation  be  repealed. 

Among  the  conditions  upon  which  a  school  is  permitted  to  receive 
a  Government  grant,  one  of  the  principal  is  that  the  head  teacher 
shall  hold  a  certificate  from  the  Education  Department,  and  that 
there  shall  be  staff  of  teachers  recognized  by  that  Department, 
bearing  a  definite  proportion  to  the  attendance.  The  recognized 
teachers  consist  of  three  main  divisions,  Certificated,  Assistant,  and 
Pupil-Teachers.  As  the  latter  form  the  main  source  from  which 
the  other  classes  are  recruited,  it  may  be  well  to  deal  with  them  first. 
Pupil-teachers  are  young  persons  of  not  less  than  fourteen  years  of 
age,  who,  after  passing  an  entrance  examination,  are  apprenticed  for 
a  term  of  four,  three,  or  two  years,  according  to  their  age  and  attain- 
ments. During  their  apprenticeship  they  are  to  be  employed  in 
school  work  for  not  more  than  twenty-five  hours  per  week,  and  in 
return  for  their  services  are  entitled  to  receive,  in  addition  to  a  small 
stipend,  instruction  for  not  less  than  five  hours  per  week  from  a 
certificated  teacher  or  teachers.  At  the  end  of  each  year  of  their 
tenn  they  are  examined  by  H.M.  Inspectors,  whose  adverse  report 
may  lead  to  a  prolongation  of  their  apprenticeship.  On  the  satis- 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  39 

factory  completion  of  their  term  they  are  entitled  to  recognition  as 
Assistant  Teachers.  As  to  the  value  of  this  system,  which  was 
originally  adopted  from  Holland,  there  exists  among  educationalists 
much  difference  of  opinion.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  contended  that 
"  the  time  occupied  in  teaching  destroys  the  pupil-teacher's  intellec- 
tual freshness  and  energy,  so  that  both  teaching  and  learning  suffer," 
and  that  as  a  source  for  the  supply  of  the  future  teachers  of  the 
country  "it  is  at  once  the  cheapest  and  the  worst  possible.''  On 
the  other  hand,  experienced  Principals  of  Training  Colleges 
speak  most  highly  of  the  advantages  of  the  system  in  preparing 
young  persons  to  be  teachers;  for  "the  power  which  is  acquired 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  eighteen  can  scarcely  ever  be 
acquired  to  perfection  afterwards,"  and  they  find  that  there  is  "  the 
greatest  difference  between  students  who  have  been  pupil-teachers 
and  those  who  have  not,  in  their  ability  to  handle  a  class,  in  their 
power  of  discipline,  and  in  their  capacity  to  deal  with  all  the  little 
difficulties  of  school  work."  The  truth  appears  to  lie  in  the  com- 
bination of  the  two  views  ;  the  system  is  an  admirable  one  for 
developing  the  power  to  teach,  but,  as  at  present  usually  carried  out, 
scarcely  affords  the  }7oung  teachers  sufficient  opportunities  of  self- 
culture.  To  remedy  the  latter  evil  is  the  special  object  of  the 
"  centre-system  "  of  teaching  which  has  recently  been  adopted,  with 
most  encouraging  results,  by  several  of  the  larger  School  Boards. 
Under  that  system  the  pupil-teachers  are  generally  relieved,  es- 
pecially during  the  earlier  years  of  apprenticeship,  of  some  of  the 
teaching  previously  required  ;  and,  instead  of  receiving  their  own 
instruction  exclusively  in  their  schools,  are  (in  some  places  in  addi- 
tion, in  others  in  substitution)  gathered  together  into  classes  for 
collective  instruction.  Imperfect,  and  capable  of  improvement, 
though  the  system  may  be,  probably  its  strongest  defence  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  does  furnish  the  country  with  an  adequate  supply  of 
teachers,  while  it  is  more  than  probable  that,  under  the  special 
economic  conditions  of  this  country,  any  other  system  would  fail  to 
do  so — at  least  in  the  case  of  male  teachers.  This  latter  considera- 
tion prevailed  with  the  Commissioners,  and  led  them  to  express  the 
opinion  that,  "  with  modifications,  tending  to  the  improvement  of 
their  education,  the  apprenticeship  of  pupil  teachers  ought  to  be 
upheld." 

In  the  July  of  each  year  the  Government  hold  an  examination — 
attended  chiefly  by  young  persons  who  have  just  completed,  or  are 
in  the  last  year  of,  an  apprenticeship,  but  which  is  open  to  any 
person  who  "will  be  more  than  18  years  of  age  on  the  1st  January 
next  following  the  date  of  the  examination  " — on  the  results  of  which 
"  Queen's  Scholarships,"  entitling  the  holders  to  two  years'  residence 
and  training  at  the  expense  of  the  Government  in  a  Training 
College,  are  distributed  to  the  number  of  some  700  for  males  and 
900  for  females  each  year.  Persons  who  pass  this  examination, 
but  are  for  any  reason  unable  to  take  up  Queen's  Scholarships,  are 
recognized  as  Assistant  Teachers,  even  though  they  may  not  have 
been  pupil-teachers. 

For  the  training  of  the  holders  of  Queen's  Scholarships  there  are 


40  STATE    EDUCATION. 

in  all  43  colleges — 17  for  masters  only,  25  for  mistresses  only,  and 
1  for  both  masters  and  mistresses.  Of  these,  13  for  masters  and 
17  for  mistresses  are  connected  with  the  Church  of  England;  1  for 
masters  and  2  for  mistresses  are  Eoman  Catholic  ;  and  1  for  masters 
and  1  for  mistresses  are  Wesleyan ;  while  2  for  masters  and  6  for 
mistresses  are  undenominational.  All  alike  are  exclusively  residential 
at  present ;  but  strong  representations  were  laid  before  the  Koyal 
Commission  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  establishment  of  Day 
Training  Colleges,  especially  in  connection  with  some  of  the 
numerous  University  Colleges  which  have  been  founded  of  late 
years  in  the  large  centres  of  population ;  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  effect  will  shortly  be  given  to  these  representations.  The 
couse  of  training  in  the  present  colleges  extends  over  two  years,  at 
the  end  of  each  of  which  the  students  are  examined  by  H.M. 
Inspectors  ;  those  who  are  successful  in  the  2nd  year's  examination 
receiving  2nd  class  certificates,  and  those  successful  in  the  1st  year's 
examination,  3rd  class.  The  former,  which  alone  entitle  the  holders 
to  train  pupil-teachers,  are  raised  to  the  1st  class  after  ten  years 
successful  service.  These  examinations,  and  the  dependent  certifi- 
cates, are  also  open  to  persons  serving  as  assistant  teachers  in 
elementary  schools,  provided  they  are  not  less  21  years  of  age. 

For  several  years  past  some  effort  has  been  made  to  attract  to  the 
elementary  schools,  as  teachers,  persons  who  have  had  the  benefit  of 
university  or  other  higher  training ;  but  the  requirement  that  they 
should  serve  for  twelve  months  under  a  certificated  teacher,  and 
should  afterwards  obtain  certificates  themselves  only  by  undergoing 
the  usual  examination,  has  hitherto  practically  deterred  university 
graduates  from  offering  themselves  for  the  work.  The  demand, 
however,  which  exists,  and  which  is  yearly  increasing,  for  the 
services  of  teachers  with  higher  attainments  than  those  that  the 
possession  of  a  certificate  necessarily  implies,  is  inducing  con- 
siderable numbers  of  certificated  masters  to  qualify  themselves  for 
the  degrees  of  universities,  like  London  and  Dublin,  which  do  not 
insist  upon  residence.  And  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  if 
sufficient  encouragement  is  given  by  the  Department  to  local 
university  colleges,  the  opportunities  of  higher  culture  afforded  by 
these  institutions,  will  be  gladly  embraced  by  a  considerable  number 
of  those  who  are  seeking  to  enter  the  ranks  of  elementary  teachers. 

Except  in  country  districts  wi-tii  a  sparse  population  the  English 
schools  are  usually  divided  into  three  separate  departments,  for  boys, 
girls,  and  infants  respectively,  each  under  its  own  head  teacher. 
In  some  of  the  larger  districts,  however,  where  schools  of  more  than 
ordinary  size  are  possible,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  there  to  be  a 
fourth  department,  intermediate  between  that  for  infants  and  those 
for  older  children,  and  confined  to  children  in  the  lower  standards. 
These  are  usually  mixed  schools ;  as  from  considerations  of 
economy  are  the  majority  of  schools  in  rural  districts.  In  some 
districts — especially  in  the  north  of  England — schools  of  the  Scotch 
type  have  been  introduced.  These  are  large  institutions,  containing 
sometimes  1,000  or  more  children,  in  which  the  sexes  are  mixed 
throughout,  and  in  which  the  whole  school  is  placed  under  one  head. 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  41 

It  is  claimed  for  these  latter  schools,  that  the  unity  of  purpose  running 
throughout  them  economizes  the  teaching  power  and  renders  it 
more  efficient ;  that  the  massing  of  the  children  in  such  large 
numbers  permits  of  a  finer  graduation  according  to  ability  ;  and  that 
the  mixing  of  the  sexes  has  moral  advantages  of  much  value,  and 
facilitates  considerably  the  maintenance  of  discipline.  From  these 
various  circumstances  mixed  schools  seem  to  be  growing  somewhat 
in  favour,  and  now  include  in  number  fully  64  per  cent,  of  the 
separate  departments  in  public  elementary  schools  for  children  above 
the  age  of  infants.  Twenty  years  ago  the  corresponding  percentage 
was  55. 

Until  the  year  1871  attendance  at  schools  was  entirely  voluntary, 
except  in  the  case  of  children  employed  in  Factories  and  Workshops, 
and  of  children  committed  to  Industrial  Schools  and  Reformatories 
or  detained  in  Workhouse  Schools. 

A  series  of  enactments,  commencing  with  the  Factory  Act  of  1833 
and  terminating  with  the  Factory  and  Workshop  Act,.  1870,  had 
been  passed  for  regulating,  among  other  things,  the  employment  of 
women  and  children  in  factories  and  workshops.  These  required  as 
a  condition  of  the  employment  of  children  under  thirteen  years  of 
age  in  any  of  the  regulated  industries,  that  the  children  should 
attend  school  either  half  each  day  or  on  alternate  days.  These 
enactments  were  extended  by  later  legislation,  and  were  finally 
consolidated  by  the  Factory  and  Workshop  Act  of  1878,  which 
now  regulates  the  matter. 

Another  series  of  statutes,  commencing  with  the  Reformatory 
Schools  Act  of  1854  and  consolidated  by  the  Reformatory  and  In- 
dustrial Schools  Acts  of  1866 — the  provisions  of  which,  somewhat 
extended  by  subsequent  legislation,  are  still  in  force — had  provided 
for  the  commitment  of  children  who  had  fallen  into  crime  or  were 
living  under  certain  specified  conditions  likely  to  lead  them  to  do 
so,  to  schools  in  which  they  would  not  only  be  fed,  clothed,  and 
educated,  but  receive  industrial  training  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
prepare  them  to  earn  their  own  living  honestly  after  the  expiration 
of  their  term. 

By  the  Act  of  1870,  which  did  not  come  into  practical  operation 
until  the  following  year,  an  optional  power  was  given  to  School 
Boards  to  make  bye-laws  requiring  the  attendance  at  school  of 
children  of  "not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  thirteen  years  "  of 
age.  In  1876  this  power  was  extended  to  a  new  set  of  authorities, 
called  into  existence  under  the  name  of  School  Attendance  Com- 
mittees, for  districts  not  under  School  Boards  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
a  new  method  of  procedure  was  provided,  and  applied  to  children  up 
to  fourteen  years  of  age,  for  dealing  with  cases  of  habitual  neglect, 
or  with  children  in  evil  surroundings  or  not  under  proper  control, 
and  a  system  of  indirect  compulsion  was  introduced,  by  the  prohibition 
of  the  employment  of  children  who  had  not  attained  a  given  standard 
of  education,  or,  as  an  alternative,  fulfilled  certain  requirements  as 
to  school  attendance.  By  the  Act  of  1880,  the  making  of  bye-laws 
ceased  to  be  an  optional  matter  with  School  Boards  or  School 
Attendance  Committees,  who  were  universally  required  to  adopt 


42  STATE    EDUCATION. 

and  enforce  such  regulations ;  and  at  the  same  time  indirect  com- 
pulsion was  made  more  stringent  by  abolishing  the  alternative 
qualification  for  emploj'ment  by  school  attendance.  The  combined 
effect  of  the  various  enactments  above  referred  to — Factory  Acts, 
Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  Acts,  and  Elementary  Educa- 
tion Acts — is  a  somewhat  complicated  system  of  direct  and  indirect 
compulsion,  which  may,  however,  with  sufficient  accuracy  be  sum- 
marized as  follows  : — 

1.  The  parent  of  any  child  between  the  ages  of  five  and  thirteen 

years  who  has  not  passed  the  Exemption  Standard  fixed  by 
the  local  Bye-laws — generally  the  fifth  or  sixth  standard — may 
be  fined  a  sum  not  exceeding  (with  costs)  5s.  if  the  child  does 
not  attend  school  regularly ;  as  may  also,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, the  parent  of  a  child  between  thirteen  and  four- 
teen years  of  age  who  has  not  passed  the  Fourth  Standard. 

2.  A  child  under  fourteen  whose  education  is  habitually  neglected 

— generally  the  child  of  drunken  or  dissolute  parents — may 
be  committed  to  a  Day  Industrial  School. 

8.  A  child  under  fourteen    who  is  beyond  the  control  of    his 
parents  may  be  sent  to  a  Truants'  School. 

4.  The   child   under   fourteen    of   criminal   or   grossly  immoral 

parents  may  be  committed  to  a  Certified  Industrial  School — 
as  may  also  a  child  of  the  like  age  who  is  a  vagrant  or  the 
companion  of  criminals,  or  a  child  under  twelve  who  has 
fallen  into  crime. 

5.  A  child  over  twelve  who  has   committed  actual  crime  m&y  be 

sent  to  a  Reformatory. 

C.  The  employer  (and  the  parent)  of  any  child  under  thirteen 
years  of  age  (or  under  fourteen,  unless  he  has  passed  a  pre- 
scribed standard)  in  any]  regulated  industry  may  be  fined 
an  amount,  not  exceeding  from  £'2  to  £5,  according  to  the 
particular  circumstances  (or  in  the  case  of  the  parent,  not 
exceeding  £1),  if  the  child  does  not  attend  school  half  time. 
7.  The  employer  in  any  other  manner  of  a  child  who  has  not 
passed  the  Exemption  Standard  corresponding  to  his  age  may 
be  fined  any  amount  up  to  £2. 

Day  Industrial  and  Truants'  Schools  are  institutions  called  into 
existence  by  the  Act  of  1876.  The  former  are,  as  their  name 
implies,  day  schools  ;  and  the  children  committed  to  them  are  fed  as 
well  as  taught,  and  are  to  some  extent  trained  in  industrial  work. 
Failure  to  attend  is  punishable  by  commitment  to  a  Certified  Indus- 
trial School,  and  the  parent  or  any  other  person  who  may  prevent 
the  child  attending  is  liable  to  any  penalty  not  exceeding  £5.  The 
cost  of  carrying  on  a  school  of  this  kind  is  ordinarily  about  3s.  a 
head  per  week,  of  which  sum  Is.  is  defrayed  by  a  grant  from  the 
Treasury,  and  the  remaining  2s.  is  nominally  assessed  upon  the 
parents,  but  under  existing  arrangements  can  be  collected  only  to 
a  very  limited  extent.  The  term  of  commitment  is  usually  for  three 
years,  but  children  may  at  any  time  after  one  month  be  licensed  on 
condition  of  regular  attendance  at  an  ordinary  school.  Day  Indus- 
trial Schools  are  under  the  inspection  of  the  Home  Office. 


THE    ENGLISH    SYSTEM.  43 

The  Truants'  School  is  a  modified  form  of  Certified  Industrial 
School,  in  which  children  are  detained  under  rigid  discipline,  but 
usually  for  very  short  terms.  They  are  also  subsidized  by  the  Trea- 
sury, and  inspected  by  the  Home  Office.  The  term  of  commitment  is 
usually  until  fourteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age,  but  licences  conditional 
upon  attendance  at  an  ordinary  school,  and  revocable  at  any  time 
in  case  of  non-compliance,  are  generally  granted  after  the  expira- 
tion of  about  six  weeks  or  two  months  of  the  term. 

The  whole  of  the  existing  arrangements,  however,  with  regard  to 
Reformatory,  Industrial,  Truants'  and  Day  Industrial  Schools  will 
probably  before  long  undergo  entire  revision,  in  accordance  with  the 
recommendations  of  a  Royal  Commission,  which  enquired  into  the 
subject  some  few  years  since.  Bills  for  this  purpose  have  been 
introduced  into  Parliament  for  the  last  two  or  three  sessions  by  the 
Government,  but  have  failed  to  pass  owing  to  the  pressure  of  other 
business. 

The  foregoing  sketch  of  the  history  and  present  condition  of  the 
English  system  of  elernentar}-  education  is  necessarily  very  incom- 
plete ;  some  important  matters,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  methods  of 
instruction  pursued,  are  altogether  omitted,  while  others  are  passed 
over  with  but  brief  allusion.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  sketch, 
imperfect  though  it  is,  may  serve  its  purpose  in  removing  some  of 
the  misapprehensions  on  the  subject  which  are  widely  prevalent. 

The  system  itself  is  at  the  present  moment  in  a  transitional 
condition,  and  will  probably  within  the  next  few  years  be  largely 
transformed.  The  abolition  of  school  fees — already  to  a  great 
extent  effected  in  Scotland — which  in  principle  appears  to  have 
received  the  acceptance  of  both  of  our  great  political  parties,  cannot 
fail,  if  carried  out,  to  profoundly  modify  existing  arrangements. 
The  demand  for  technical  instruction,  though  not  directly  affecting 
elementary  schools  to  any  great  extent,  may  indirectly  produce  mate- 
rial changes  in  their  constitution,  and  especially  in  their  ordinary  cur- 
riculum. The  hitherto  almost  exclusively  literary  character  of  their 
instruction  will  probably,  in  face  of  this  demand,  give  place  to  train- 
ing of  a  more  practical  nature,  and  the  bias  given  by  the  education 
be  rather  towards  the  higher  forms  of  manual  work  than  to  the 
career  of  a  clerk.  The  growing  perception  that  a  child's  education 
cannot,  in  any  rank  of  life,  be  considered  complete  when  he  is  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  that,  if  not  kept  up,  a  vast  amount  of 
the  knowledge  upon  which  the  nation  is  expending  so  lavishly  its 
time  and  money,  is  entirely  forgotten,  is  bringing  to  the  front  the 
question  of  providing  evening  continuation  schools.  Already  the 
attention  of  Parliament  has  on  several  occasions  been  drawn  to  this 
subject,  though  as  yet  without  effect ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  even  without  legislative  assistance,  the  action  of  the  Education 
Department,  and  the  initiative  of  local  bodies,  will  be  sufficient  to 
carry  largely  into  effect  the  important  and  unanimous  recommenda- 
tions on  this  subject  of  the  recent  Royal  Commission. 

EDWARD  M.  HANCE. 


PART     III. 

STATE   EDUCATION   IN   SCOTLAND. 

IN  England,  a  national  system  of  Education  is,  comparatively 
speaking,  a  thing  of  yesterday.  Until  the  Act  of  1870  was  passed 
by  Mr.  Forster,  there  was  nothing  but  a  casual  provision  for  any 
educational  supply  throughout  the  country.  In  some  districts, 
indeed,  the  liberality  of  the  "  pious  founder  "  had  established  the 
means  of  education :  but  the  extent  to  which  these  means  were 
used,  and  the  degree  of  efficiency  in  which  they  were  maintained, 
was  left  to  the  accident  of  local  energy.  And  for  the  rest,  the 
education  of  the  people  was  left  altogether  to  the  voluntary  efforts  of 
public -spirited  men,  aided  by  the  charity  of  those  who  chose  to 
contribute  to  their  work.  Not  until  1870  was  there  any  guarantee 
that  the  work  of  charity  should,  if  need  be,  be  supplemented  by 
statutory  means.  Not  until  the  Acts  of  1876  and  1880  were  passed, 
was  there  a  statutory  authority  in  every  parish,  armed  with  the 
power  of  enforcing  compulsory  attendance  at  school.  And  even 
the  Acts  which  found  a  place  upon  the  Statute  Book  between  1870 
and  1880,  related  only  to  Elementary  Education.  The  State  has 
as  yet  assumed  no  responsibility  in  the  sphere  of  Secondary  Educa- 
tion, so  essential  to  place  the  coping-stone  upon  any  complete 
system.  Encouragement  has,  indeed,  been  given  by  the  grants 
from  the  Science  and  Art  Department,  towards  one  very  important 
branch  of  such  Education  :  but  the  State  encourages  only — it  does 
not  initiate  or  organize.  Secondary  Education  is  still  mainly  depen- 
dent upon  endowments.  These  Endowments  have,  it  is  true,  been  re- 
arranged, and  in  large  measure  adapted  to  modern  needs,  by  means 
of  the  Endowed  Schools  Acts.  But  such  re-arrangement  has  pro- 
ceeded upon  no  very  certain  or  definite  plan :  and,,  as  a  consequence, 
jealousies  have  been  engendered,  bitter  political  feeling  has  been 
aroused,  and  serious  checks  have  been  placed  in  the  way  of  the 
work,  from  the  fact  of  the  nation  having  no  very  certain  or  clear 
idea  as  to  the  relation  of  the  Secondary  to  the  Elementary  Schools, 
as  to  the  real  interest  which  the  poorer  classes  have  in  higher 
education,  and  as  to  the  functions  which  higher  schools  have  to 
fulfil  in  any  national  system  worth  of  the  name.  As  it  is,  the 
re- organization  of  these  schools  has  not  proceeded  far  enough. 
The  schemes  which  have  been  passed  provide  for  no  inspection  of 
the  schools,  and  leave  them  exposed  to  the  danger  of  inefficiency 
and  gradual  decay,  to  which  so  many  amongst  them  have  already, 
in  so  many  instances,  succumbed. 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  45 

But  in  Scotland  the  work  of  National  Education  lias  a  far  longer 
history,  and  has  been  far  more  drastic  in  its  operation.  The 
national  instinct  was  the  first  prompter  in  the  movement.  For  a 
nation,  fairly  populous  in  proportion  to  its  territory,  with  few 
resources  of  internal  wealth  to  enable  it  to  compete  with  its  richer 
neighbours  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  energetic,  ambitious,  and  full  of 
expedient,  Education  offered  the  surest  leverage  by  which  to  force 
its  way  to  the  front.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  her  leaders,  for  centuries 
past,  that  they  recognized  this  need,  and  endeavoured  to  provide 
for  it.  The  earliest  schools  were  naturally  those  connected  with 
the  religious  houses.  But  even  before  the  Eeformation,  other 
educational  provision  had  sprung  up  to  share  the  field  with  these. 
The  leading  towns  had  their  Grammar  or  Latin  Schools,  with 
elementary  schools  below  them.  As  early  as  the  days  of  James  IV., 
before  the  close  of  the  15th  century,  there  was  a  statute  requiring 
all  freeholders  of  substance  to  send  their  heirs  to  school,  and  to 
keep  them  there  until  they  had  "  perfect  Latin  " — Latin  being  then 
the  common  language  of  all  civilised  Europe,  and  the  only  means 
by  which  young  Scotchmen  could  successfully  push  their  way  to 
high  employment  abroad.  After  the  Reformation,  the  Educational 
movement  acquired  a  new  impetus.  The  Reformed  Church  in  1560 
prescribed  a  plan,  which  had  almost  as  much  force  as  statutory 
authority,  according  to  which  every  town  "  of  reputation  "  was  to 
have  a  "  Latin  School"  ;  while  the  "  upland  "  or  country  parishes 
were  to  have,  each,  a  teacher  of  the  first  rudiments.  Nor  were  the 
upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  ladder  neglected.  In  the  chief  towns 
there  were  to  be  colleges  for  "  logic,  rhetoric,  and  the  tongues  "  : 
while  assistance  was  to  be  given  to  the  poor  to  send  their  children  to 
school. 

The  "  Book  of  Policy  "  in  which  the  Church  laid  down  this 
scheme,  had  an  authority,  as  we  have  said,  little  less  than  statutory. 
But  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  and  the  narrowness  of 
available  resources,  often  led  to  the  scheme  being  more  honoured  in 
the  breach  than  in  the  observance.  No  assessment  was  as  yet 
imposed  for  the  purposes  of  education ;  nor  was  such  an  assess- 
ment established  until  the  Privy  Council  in  1616  laid  a  tax  upon 
the  land,  to  provide  a  school  in  each  Parish.  The  decree  did 
not  receive  statutory  authority  until  1633,  when  Episcopacy  was 
dominant  under  the  influence  of  Laud :  but  the  power  of  assessing, 
which  was  placed  mainly  in  the  hands  of  the  Bishop,  was  probably 
but  little  exercised  in  practice  during  the  stormy  interval  which 
followed.  Finally  in  1696,  after  the  Revolution,  a  period  of  educa- 
tional activity  set  in,  reaching  from  the  Universities,  which  were  made 
the  subject  of  a  thorough  and  searching  examination  by  a  Com- 
mission, down  to  the  Parish  Schools,  which  were  at  last  given  a 
secure  and  permanent  existence.  The  settlement  of  these  schools 
did  not  come  one  moment  too  soon  for  the  urgent  necessities  of  the 
nation.  Had  Scotland,  disturbed  and  torn  by  nearly  two  centuries 
of  unceasing  religious  and  political  struggle,  during  which  the  early 
promise  of  her  literature  had  been  well-nigh  crushed  out  of  life, 
begun  the  critical  epoch  of  the  eighteenth  century  without  an 


46  STATE    EDUCATION. 

organized  s}Tstem  of  national  education,  she  would  have  been  ill- 
fitted  to  take  her  place  in  that  partnership  for  which  the  Union 
paved  the  way,  and  still  more  ill-fitted  to  reap  the  rich  harvest  of 
prosperity  which  the  development  of  commerce  yielded,  and  which 
only  the  vigour,  enterprise,  and  sound  equipment  of  her  sons  enabled 
her  so  richly  to  share.  As  it  was,  the  Parish  School  soon  became 
the  most  characteristic  trait  of  Scottish  life  :  a  nursery  of  sound 
though  simple  training,  in  which  all  classes  of  the  Scottish  people 
found  new  encouragement  to  a  common  sympathy,  that  mingling  of 
class  with  class  which  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  a  poor  but  courageous 
nation,  and  which  became  so  typical  of  the  "  kindly"  Scot. 

The  Act  of  1696  imposed  upon  the  heritors,  or  landowners,  of 
each  parish  the  duty,  at  their  own  cost,  of  providing  a  school-house, 
and  of  paying  a  salary  to  the  teacher.  It  provided,  what  previous 
Acts  had  failed  to  provide,  a  means  of  preventing  indifference  or 
neglect :  because  the  Presbytery  of  the  bounds  was  empowered, 
in  case  of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  heritors,  to  erect  the  school,  and 
maintain  the  teacher,  at  the  cost  of  the  defaulting  heritors.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  this  Statute  opened  a  new  era  in  the 
lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  first  pointed  out  the  road  by  which  those 
sons  of  Scotland  who  had  previously  sought  service  in  the  armies  of 
any  contending  powers  in  Europe,  began  to  spread  their  influence 
over  the  civilized  world  by  the  peaceful  methods  of  enterprise  and 
commerce.  It  was  long,  of  course,  before  the  influence  of  the  Act 
could  extend  to  the  remote  valleys  and  mountains  of  the  Highlands  : 
but  it  spread  as  the  rule  of  law  prevailed,  and  insufficient  as  the 
provision  often  was,  it  still  formed  the  charter  of  Scottish  education, 
by  which  each  Scottish  boy  could  claim  as  a  right  the  education 
fitted  to  give  him  a  start  in  the  world. 

The  maintenance  of  the  teacher  was,  naturally,  in  so  poor  a 
country,  calculated  upon  a  scale  incredibly  small,  even  allowing  for 
the  great  difference  in  the  value  of  money.  It  was  not  until  1803, 
that  the  salary  \vas  fixed  at  a  sum  vaiying  from  .£15  to  £20  a  year, 
with  a  house  and  garden.  But  small  as  were  his  resources,  the 
teacher  was  a  freeholder,  who,  once  appointed,  could  not  be  dis- 
missed, except  by  a  process  strictly  laid  down  by  statute.  He  was 
poor,  but  he  was  also  independent:  and  the  advantages  of  his 
position  were  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  he  could  count  the  highest 
as  well  as  the  humblest  in  the  parish  amongst  his  pupils,  and  was 
generally  able  to  send,  yearly,  a  quota  of  scholars  to  the  University 
who  might,  in  future  years,  reflect  some  glory  upon  their  former 
Dominie. 

As  time  went  on,  however,  the  destitution  of  the  Highland  districts 
became  more  appalling.  There  the  Act  was  practically  a  dead  letter. 
Through  wide  regions  in  Invernesshire  and  Argyllshire,  where 
parishes  stretched  for  thirty  or  forty  miles,  there  was  no  school 
within  the  reach  of  some  95  out  of  every  100  children.  In  1824, 
the  attention  of  the  Church  was  especially  directed  to  this,  partly  b}' 
the  Commission  of  Inquiry  set  on  foot  by  Lord  Brougham.  The 
Church  made  vigorous  efforts  to  grapple  with  the  evil  ;  but  it  was 
obliged  to  admit  that  charitable  and  voluntary  effort  was  overpowered ; 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  47 

that  the  existing  statutes  were  insufficient  to  overtake  the  needs  of 
these  vast  stretching  parishes ;  and  that  larger  resources  must  be 
provided  if  the  evil  was  to  be  met  and  overcome.  The  last  statute, 
dealing  with  the  old  Parish  Schools,  was  passed  in  1861.  It  con- 
siderably curtailed  the  old  privileges  of  the  Church  ;  restricted  the 
formularies  to  which  the  adhesion  of  the  teacher  was  required ;  and 
substituted  the  Universities  for  the  Presbyteries  in  the  examination 
of  teachers.  The  salaries  of  the  teachers  were  at  the  same  time 
increased ;  and  on  the  whole,  while  wide  gaps  in  the  national 
system  still  remained,  the  Parish  Schools  had  been  strengthened, 
enriched,  and  liberalized  before  the  Commission  of  Inquiry  of  1864, 
which  was  the  prelude  to  the  Education  Act  of  1872.  Not  only 
was  there  a  strict  conscience  clause,  but  that  conscience  clause  was 
operative  in  practice.  Roman  Catholics  as  well  as  Presbyterians 
were  educated  at  the  Parish  Schools  ;  and  in  1829  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  had  expressly  enjoined  that  no  instruction 
should  be  pressed  on  the  children  of  Roman  Catholics  to  which 
their  parents  or  the  priest  objected.  We  have  seen  how,  so  long  • 
ago  as  the  15th  century,  provision  was  to  be  made  for  assisting  the ' 
poor  in  obtaining  education.  In  practice  this  still  prevailed.  Fees 
were  charged  as  a  rule ;  but  their  amount  varied  by  usage  according 
to  the  means  of  the  parent ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  poor  they  were 
not  exacted  at  all. 

Already,  as  in  England,  so  in  Scotland,  the  State  had  stepped  in, 
as  a  source  of  assistance  and  encouragement.  In  England  that 
assistance — first  granted  towards  buildings  in  1832,  developing  in 
1839  into  a  system  of  inspection,  and  in  1846  into  grants  for  main- 
tenance according  to  certain  denned  principles — was  an  encourage- 
ment offered  to  purely  voluntary  effort,  unprescribed  by  the  Statute 
Book.  In  Scotland — while  it  followed,  as  to  dates  and  objects, 
exactly  the  same  course — we  must  not  forget  that  it  was  merely  a 
contribution  from  the  national  exchequer  towards  schools  which,  in 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  cases,  were  the  direct  creation  of 
statute  law.  It  is  thus  necessary  to  remember  that  the  financial 
assistance  granted  by  Parliament  rested  upon  a  very  different  prin- 
ciple in  England  and  in  Scotland.  But  in  both  countries,  the 
Committee  of  Privy  Council,  or  the  Education  Department,  as  it 
soon  afterwards  was  called,  exercised  exactly  the  same  control  and 
authority.  It  merely  laid  down  the  conditions  of  grant,  and  by 
means  of  its  Inspectors  ascertained  that  these  conditions  were 
fulfilled.  It  did  not  belong  to  the  Department  to  enforce  the 
Statutes  to  which  the  Scottish  Parish  Schools  owed  their  existence, 
any  more  than  it  fell  to  it  to  compel  the  establishment  of  National 
Schools  by  voluntary  effort  in  England. 

We  have  thus  brought  down  the  history  of  the  Scottish  Parish 
Schools  to  the  eve  of  recent  legislation.  But  this  does  not  exhaust 
the  whole  sphere  of  the  national  system.  We  have  seen  how  early 
efforts  had  been  made  to  establish  Secondary  or  Grammar  Schools. 
These  had  gradually  taken  shape ;  and  not  the  least  important  part 
of  the  Scottish  Educational  provision  was  that  afforded  by  the 
Burgh  Schools.  These  Burgh  Schools  were  part  and  parcel  of  the 


48  STATE    EDUCATION. 

national  system,  and  were  by  no  means  dependent  upon  charity 
or  endowments.  They  derived  a  certain  income  from  the  Common 
Good,  or  public  funds  of  the  Burgh,  and  their  maintenance 
was  a  duty  laid  upon  the  Town  Council.  In  principle  this  was 
tantamount  to  their  being  rate-supported  Schools  ;  and  although 
the  available  funds  were  often  scanty,  the  part  they  played  in  the 
education  of  the  country  was  no  insignificant  one.  In  a  country 
so  poor  as  Scotland  it  was  impossible  that  lavish  endowments  should 
be  spent  upon  grammar  schools,  or  that  a  long  period  in  the  lives  of 
Scottish  }Touth,  who  had  their  way  to  push  in  the  world,  should  be 
consumed  in  higher  education.  But  within  their  own  sphere  these 
schools  were  vigorously  and  energetically  conducted.  Their  fees 
were  reduced  by  prudent  management  to  the  narrowest  possible 
limits.  Their  staff,  though  scantily  paid,  consisted  of  the  picked 
men  of  an  active  and  an  independent  profession.  The  widespread 
interest  in  education,  and  the -management  of  a  public  body,  were 
guarantees  against  their  sinking  into  the  state  of  inefficiency  so 
common  in  English  Grammar  Schools.  The  constant  stream  of 
pupils  passing  from  the  Burgh  Schools  to  the  Universities,  served  to 
keep  up  a  high  ideal  of  scholarship.  As  a  consequence,  when  the 
Assistant  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Schools  Inquiry  Com- 
mission of  1864,  accustomed  to  the  slipshod  methods  and  listless 
inefficiency  of  the  English  Grammar  Schools,  visited  Scotland,  they 
were  struck  by  the  healthy  vigour  which  pervaded  in  the  Burgh 
Schools,  and  saw  in  them  a  type  which  they  would  gladly  have  seen 
more  widely  spread  amongst  the  richly-endowed  Grammar  Schools 
of  England,  managed  by  close  bodies  of  trustees,  and  invigorated  by 
no  general  educational  interest  such  as  prevailed  amongst  the  middle 
class  of  Scotland. 

These  various  parts  of  the  national  system  provided  in  Scotland 
that  "ladder  "  which  it  has  been  the  ambition  of  educational  re- 
formers to  repeat  all  over  the  kingdom.  In  the  Parish  Schools 
all  classes  mixed  together.  This  bridged  over  many  a  social  gulf  : 
and  in  their  picked  scholars,  who  were  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
Burgh  Schools  in  the  larger  towns,  the  Parish  Schools  kept  in 
touch  with  the  Universities  and  with  higher  education.  In  the 
towns,  again,  all  parents  who  had  any  ambition  for  their  sons, 
found  at  their  hands  the  Burgh  Schools,  sustained  by  some  contribu- 
tion from  public  funds,  and  providing,  at  moderate  cost,  an  education 
fully  adequate  to  the  preparation  of  students  for  the  Universities. 

What,  then,  were  the  faults  which  the  Commission  of  Inquiry 
of  1864  proved  to  exist  in  the  Scottish  national  system  ?  In  the 
first  place,  the  Parish  Schools,  however  good  in  themselves,  were 
unequal  to  overtake  the  task  imposed  upon  them  by  an  increasing 
population.  In  the  Highlands  they  left  wide  tracts  of  country  un- 
provided, and  in  the  towns,  a  single  Parish  School  was  quite  insuffi- 
cient to  meet  the  requirements  of  crowded  areas.  Voluntary  effort 
doubtless  did  much ;  but  not  only  was  it  casual  in  its  operation, 
it  was  also  incapable  of  rapid  and  certain  development.  The  Burgh 
Schools  found  themselves  more  and  more  crippled  by  want  of  funds, 
which  left  the  salaries  of  the  staff  insufficient  to  attract  to  the  pro- 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  49 

fession  men  of  vigour  and  capacity.  The  weakness  of  the  Burgh 
Schools,  again,  told  upon  the  Universities,  which,  in  the  ahsence  of 
any  complete  system  of  secondary  education  were  forced  to  take 
upon  themselves  the  education  of  the  tyro,  and  to  receive  pupils  at 
an  age  when  they  would  have  worked  to  more  purpose  under  the 
strict  supervision  of  a  schoolmaster  than  in  the  more  independent 
sphere  of  a  professor's  lecture-room.  The  very  excellence  of  the 
Scottish  teachers  often  led  them,  inevitably,  into  a  habit  of  attend- 
ing most  to  the  picked  companjr  of  higher  scholars,  and  neglecting 
the  rank  and  file  of  their  pupils  from  whom  they  could  not  hope  to 
acquire  credit  in  the  higher  walks  of  life. 

The  conviction  of  these  defects  gradually  gained  ground,  and 
prompted  the  desire  to  complete,  upon  an  adequate  and  worthy  scale, 
the  national  system  of  which  the  foundations  were  so  satisfactorily 
laid.  Several  attempts  at  legislation  were  made  before  success  was 
attained.  But  there  was  one  element  which  made  success  more 
easy  in  Scotland  than  in  England.  In  Scotland  the  denominational 
difficulty  presented  itself  mainly  as  one  of  management  and  not  of 
system.  The  rivalry  between  the  sects  had  led  to  the  establishment  of 
Schools  which  were  necessary  to  maintain  their  influence,  but  which 
gave  an  education  which  even  in  its  religious  features  was  practically 
identical.  Such  rivalry  was  certain  to  continue  so  long  as  the 
Established  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  retained  its 
supremacy  in  the  Parish  Schools ;  and  therefore,  however  liberal 
and  successful  its  government  had  been,  it  was  inevitable  that  such 
supremacy  should  cease,  seeing  that  there  was  something  very  nearly 
approaching  unanimity  amongst  Scottish  parents  as  to  religious 
teaching,  and  the  distinction  between  Schools  was  maintained  only 
as  a  badge  of  sectarianism. 

It  was  in  1872  that  Lord  Young,  then  Lord  Advocate,  succeeded 
in  placing  upon  the  Statute  Book  the  Scotch  Education  Act,  which 
revolutionised  the  system.  In  many  of  its  features  that  Act  pre- 
sented a  striking  contrast  to  the  English  Education  Act  which  had 
preceded  it.  It  was  not  merely  an  Elementary  Education  Act :  but  was 
intended  to  provide  education  "  for  the  whole  people  of  Scotland." 
Its  object  was  not  merely  to  establish  local  authorities  in  places 
where  further  provision  was  required  :  it  established,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  School  Board  in  every  parish,  and  placed  that  Board  at 
once  in  the  management  of  the  Parish  Schools,  and,  in  the  towns,  of 
the  Burgh  Schools.  In  the  English  Act,  building  grants  were 
allowed  to  voluntary  managers  in  order  to  enable  them  to  supply 
deficiencies,  and  thus  ward  off  the  intrusion  of  statutory  authorities. 
In  the  Scottish  Act,  such  building  grants  to  voluntary  managers 
were  to  cease,  and  instead,  School  Boards  were  allowed  assistance 
from  the  exchequer  in  providing  Schools  to  supply  the  deficiencies 
which  they  found.  In  the  English  Act,  Voluntary  Schools  were 
allowed  full  liberty  of  religious  teaching,  subject  to  the  Conscience 
Clause,  but  School  Boards  were  allowed  to  teach  religion  only  under 
strict  limitations  as  to  formulae  and  creeds.  In  the  Scottish  Act, 
a  conscience  clause  was  the  only  restriction  upon  equal  liberty  for 
all ;  and  each  locality  was  left  to  regulate  the  religious  instruction 

VOL.    I.  E 


50  STATE    EDUCATION. 

of  its  schools,  through  its  own  elected  representatives.  Although 
no  grant  was  offered  to  the  higher  schools,  yet  these  being  placed 
under  the  management  of  the  School  Boards,  were  continued  as 
part  of  the  national  s}^stem,  and  by  subsequent  statutes  were  given 
increased  assistance  from  the  rates.  Lastly,  compulsion  was  intro- 
duced into  England  only  by  a  gradual  process  :  in  Scotland  the  duty 
of  giving  education  to  his  children  was  imposed  as  a  necessary  duty 
upon  every  parent  by  the  Education  Act  of  1872,  and  an  authority 
was  at  once  brought  into  existence  in  every  parish  for  enforcing 
these  compulsory  clauses  of  the  Act.  A  certain  uniform  standard 
of  exemption  from  school  attendance  was  imposed  b}r  one  stroke 
over  the  whole  of  Scotland.  Changes  of  detail  had  subsequently  to 
be  introduced,  and  the  meshes  of  the  net  had  to  be  made  smaller : 
but  since  1872  it  has  never  been  possible  to  find  in  Scotland  what  is 
still  to  be  found  in  England,  a  variation  in  the  standard  of  exemption 
as  fixed  by  the  bye-laws  of  two  neighbouring  parishes. 

Upon  this  solid  legislative  foundation,  the  new  relations  between 
the  Education  Department — now,  so  far  as  Scotland  was  concerned, 
a  Scotch  Education  Department — and  the  School  Boards  or  other 
managers  of  Schools,  were  based.  We  have  now  to  see  what  these 
relations  were,  and  what  are  the  lines  which  have  been  followed 
by  the  Central  and  Local  authorities  in  the  development  of  the 
national  system. 

In  the  first  place,  with  regard  to  the  Imperial  grant.  The  effect 
of  the  Act  of  1872  was  to  increase  enormously  the  cost  of  the 
system  :  and  the  Imperial  Exchequer  had  to  take  its  share  of  this 
increase.  But  more  strict  conditions  of  efficiency  had  to  be  attached 
to  the  larger  grant.  Local  authorities  now  existed  to  whom,  and 
not  to  the  teachers,  the  Department  had  to  look  as  responsible  for 
the  efficiency  of  schools.  With  these  authorities  it  rested  to  make 
such  terms  as  they  pleased  with  their  teachers,  and,  if  they  thought 
it  well,  to  bear  casual  fluctuations  in  the  grant;  but  it  was  necessary 
to  satisfy  Parliament  that  the  money  it  granted  was  not  ill-spent ; 
and  at  the  outset  it  was  therefore  considered  necessary  to  impose 
the  strict  system  of  payment  by  results,  which  had  been  introduced 
by  Mr.  Lowe's  Kevised  Code  of  1862.  The  Scotch  Code,  indeed, 
from  the  first,  recognised  something  beyond  the  elementary  sub- 
jects, and  admitted  higher  education  in  the  ordinary  schools  as 
something  deserving  of  a  grant.  But  a  severe  test  had  to  be  im- 
posed in  order  to  check  that  tendency  to  neglect  the  backward 
scholars,  which  the  previous  system,  with  all  its  undoubted  advan- 
tages, certainly  was  apt  to  encourage.  For  fourteen  years  that  system 
was  continued  practically  without  a  change.  Only  in  1886  was  it 
deemed  safe  to  relax  the  severity,  or  rather  the  minuteness,  of  the 
test:  and  in  that  year,  a  class  examination,  with  a  uniform  payment 
on  graduated  scales,  was  substituted  for  individual  examination  in 
the  two  lower  standards.  The  experiment  has  been  so  far  success- 
ful that  the  Department  has  now,  in  its  Code  for  1890,  just  issued, 
extended  that  system  to  the  whole  school.  Individual  examination, 
it  is  stated,  may  still  be  resorted  to,  as  a  check  upon  doubtful 
efficiency  ;  but  otherwise  individual  examination  is  no  necessary  part 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  51 

of  the  Scottish  system,  and  it  will  not  determine  the  amount  of  the 
Parliamentary  subsidy.  A  similar  change  was  attempted  last  year 
for  England  ;  but  the  question  was  surrounded  by  too  many  stormy 
subjects  of  debate,  in  the  relations  of  the  Board  and  the  Voluntary 
Schools,  and  the  attempted  change  was  necessarily  postponed.  In 
Scotland,  that  freedom  of  organization  which  has  been  so  long 
demanded  is  now  conceded,  and  the  rigour  of  a  minute  system 
which,  it  was  asserted,  tended  to  check  the  best  efforts  of  school 
and  teacher,  has  been  abandoned ;  and  it  now  rests  with  the  local 
authorities  to  show  that  their  own  zeal  for  education  is  sufficient  to 
dispel  all  danger  of  inefficiency  as  the  result  of  the  relaxation. 
During  the  seventeen  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  Act  was 
passed,  the  Parliamentary  grant  has  increased  from  £140,000  to 
about  £600,000  a  year;  so  that  the  responsibility  thus  imposed, 
first  upon  the  local  authorities,  and  finally  upon  the  Central 
Department,  is  no  light  or  nominal  one. 

During  the  same  period,  the  contribution  from  rates  has  grown 
until  it  reaches  £247,000  a  year,  besides  the  annual  obligations 
which  are  incurred  in  loans  for  the  erection  of  schools.  Besides 
this  contribution  from  the  rates  to  Elementary  Schools,  there  is  an 
annual  contribution  to  the  Burgh  Schools  (in  addition  to  the  Endow- 
ments derived  from  the  Common  Good)  of  £9,196.  This  contribu- 
tion is  not  met,  like  the  rest  of  the  income  derived  from  rates,  by  a 
grant  from  the  Department,  because  the  principle  of  grants  to 
Higher  Schools  has  not  yet  been  recognised.  But  if  the  Depart- 
ment does  not  allow  grants  to  Higher  Schools,  it  gives,  at  least,  a 
guarantee,  by  inspection,  of  their  efficiency.  The  Education  Act  of 
1878,  which  gave  School  Boards  enlarged  powers  of  aiding  the 
Burgh  Schools,  also  provided  for  the  inspection  of  Higher  Schools 
by  the  Department :  and  this  function  was  largely  extended,  in 
1882,  by  the  Educational  Endowments  Act,  which  required  that 
each  scheme  should  provide  for  the  periodical  inspection  of  Endowed 
Schools  by  the  Department.  The  organization  of  this  system  of 
inspection,  long  a  crying  want  in  Scotland,  was  only  completed  after 
the  lapse  of  some  years  :  and  it  was  not  until  1886  that  the  Depart- 
ment was  enabled  to  enter  thoroughly  upon  the  work.  In  that 
year,  however,  the  system  was  put  in  operation.  There  are  now 
three  classes  of  Higher  Schools  which  are  inspected  by  the  Depart- 
ment ;  the  Burgh  Schools,  towards  the  cost  of  which  a  contribution 
is  made  by  the  Treasury;  the  Endowed  Schools,  which  are  required 
by  their  schemes  to  defray  the  cost  from  their  endowments ;  and 
Private  Schools,  which,  if  they  apply  for  inspection,  must  meet  the 
cost  themselves.  The  system  has  been  completed  by  the  institu- 
tion of  a  Leaving  Certificate  Examination  which  stamps  the  standard 
attained  by  scholars  leaving  these  Higher  Schools,  and  which  is 
accepted  in  lieu  of  various  professional  examinations,  and  by  the 
Universities,  both  of  England  and  Scotland,  as  exempting  from 
certain  preliminary  tests.  The  system  has  not  yet  had  full  time  to 
show  its  fruits ;  but  the  statement  issued  by  the  Department  shows 
that  while  972  candidates  presented  themselves  at  the  first  examina- 
tion, the  number  at  the  second  examination  (in  1889)  was  2,066. 

E  2 


52  STATE    EDUCATION. 

The  result  so  far  as  the  Higher  Schools  are  concerned  has  heen  to 
check  their  threatened  extinction,  and  to  enable  them  to  hold  their 
own  in  the  hope  that,  some  day,  a  subsidy  from  the  State  may 
enable  them  to  compete  on  a  more  secure  basis  with  their  better 
endowed  elementary  rivals.  No  result  could  be  more  untoward  for 
Scotland  than  the  extinction  of  her  Higher  Schools,  and  the  in- 
sufficient equipment  which  her  sons  would  then  have  for  the  struggle 
for  existence,  which  is  ever  growing  in  intensity  and  for  which 
every  surrounding  nation  is  preparing  with  ever-increasing  ardour. 

In  connection  with  this,  it  is  necessary  briefly  to  refer  to  two 
closely  related  subjects,  which  are  of  great  importance  for  the  future 
of  higher  education  in  Scotland.  The  first  of  these  is  the  re- 
organization of  her  endowments  under  the  Educational  Endowments 
Act  of  1882.  The  Commission  charged  with  that  work  has  now 
come  to  a  conclusion,  after  seven  years  of  very  arduous  work. 
Their  course  has  not  always  been  a  smooth  one,  and  they  have  met 
at  times  with  a  keen,  and  sometimes  a  virulent,  opposition.  The 
suspicion  has  been  aroused  that  endowments  left  for  the  poor  are 
being  diverted  to  the  well-to-do ;  and  such  a  suspicion,  once 
aroused,  is  naturally  not  soon  lulled  to  sleep.  It  has  been  kept  on 
the  alert  by  the  dislike  of  avowed  reactionaries  to  change  of  any 
sort,  and  by  what  is  little  more  than  a  sentimental  regard  for  those 
older  Hospitals,  or  institutions,  in  which  the  beneficiaries  were  boarded 
as  well  as  educated,  which  have  been  repeatedly  condemned  by  the 
verdict  of  successive  Commissions  of  Inquny.  It  is  inevitable  that 
the  disturbance  of  charitable  funds,  however  great  the  evils  which 
these  funds  have  brought  in  their  train,  must  sometimes  involve 
hardship,  and  always  provoke  a  certain  amount  of  opposition.  But 
we  say  unhesitatingly  that  the  opposition  has  been  for  the  most  part 
undiscriminating  and  unwise.  No  Commission  could  have  carried 
out  its  work  with  a  more  anxious  wish  to  deal  leniently  with  existing 
interests,  and  above  all  to  preserve  the  advantages  secured  to  the 
poor.  But  they  were  bound  to  deal  firmly.  Until  not  only 
political  economy,  but  the  hard  facts  on  which  political  economy 
is  founded,  are  banished  to  Saturn,  the  evils  of  indiscriminate 
doles  will  inevitably  appear.  To  give  by  charitable  endowment 
advantages  which  are  secured  to  the  people  by  statute,  as  a  right, 
is  not  to  benefit  the  poor,  but  to  benefit  those  upon  whom  the 
statute  has  placed  a  burden  which  the  endowment,  so  administered, 
enables  them  to  avoid.  To  have  preserved  the  Hospitals  would 
have  been  to  perpetuate  a  system  alien  to  Scottish  habit,  and  con- 
demned by  all  who  studied  their  effect,  as  stunting  and  weakening 
the  faculties  of  their  pupils.  And,  lastly,  to  assume  that  all  help 
to  higher  education  is  help  withdrawn  from  the  poor,  is  to  be  false 
to  all  the  best  traditions  of  Scotland,  to  all  that  intellectual  ambition 
which  has  been  the  chief  characteristic  of  her  sons,  and  to  discourage 
that  mingling  of  class  with  class  which  has  been  the  best  sign  of  her 
schools.  But  to  give  the  opportunity  of  prolonging  his  education 
unduly  to  a  boy  selected  only  011  the  ground  of  poverty  and  not 
on  that  of  merit,  is  to  inflict  upon  that  boy  the  irreparable 
hardship  of  wasting  some  precious  years  of  his  life  in  work  for 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  53 

which  he  is  unfitted.  By  all  means  take  every  security  that 
the  poorest  shall  have  his  merits  recognized,  and  that  no  one 
shall  lose  an  opportunity  by  which  he  might  in  any  way  profit, 
or  miss  the  chance  of  developing  any  faculty  he  possesses.  But 
discriminate  in  your  selection,  or  you  will  inevitably  take  from 
the  boy  the  healthy  stimulus  of  exertion,  and  will  earn  for  yourself 
later  the  well- deserved  blame  of  having  hindered,  instead  of  helped 
him,  in  his  start  in  life.  Stone  by  stone  the  edifice  of  elementary 
education  has  been  raised,  and  step  by  step  the  roads  towards  its 
portals  have  been  smoothed,  until  at  last  even  the  small  toll 
previously  levied  at  its  entrance  by  way  of  fees,  has  been  removed. 
It  is  now  for  the  nation  to  build  up  that  separate,  but  sister,  edifice 
of  higher  education.  No  sacrifice  is  too  great  to  accomplish  the 
work.  But  it  would  be  the  most  fatal  error  to  allow  the  idea  to 
gain  credence  that  this  sister  edifice  is  for  a  class  apart,  that  the 
nation  as  a  whole  has  no  interest  in  it,  and  that  to  use  endowments, 
either  to  strengthen  its  foundations,  or  to  gather  aspirants  to  share 
its  advantages,  is  in  any  wa}r  to  rob  the  poor. 

The  Commission  may  safely  allow  the  results  of  their  work  to 
answer  eventually  the  charges  brought  against  them.  In  regard  to 
several  of  the  largest  endowments,  indeed,  their  action  was 
anticipated  by  previous  reform.  The  uniquivocal  success  of  such 
institutions  as  Watson's  College  in  Edinburgh,  Hutchesons' 
Schools  in  Glasgow,  Gordon's  College  in  Aberdeen,  will  surely 
impress  the  people  with  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  on  which  they  have 
been  reorganized.  These  models  have  been  followed  by  the  recent 
Commission  ;  and  the  result  of  their  labours  is  seen  not  only  in  the 
great  reorganized  institutions  bearing  the  name  of  George  Heriot  in 
Edinburgh,  but  also  in  numerous  lesser  schools  which  the  reformed 
application  of  endowments  has  enabled  them  to  establish  in  various 
parts  of  Scotland. 

Another  sphere  of  higher  education  has  quite  recently  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  action  of  an  Executive  Commission — that  of  the 
Universities.  The  Scottish  Universities  present  neither  in  their 
foundation  nor  in  their  history,  any  very  close  analogy  with  the 
Universities  of  England.  They  were  not  a  gradual  aggregation  of 
colleges  owing  their  origin  to  private  beneficence  and  gradually 
forming  the  aggregate  of  a  University.  The  three  pre-Reformation 
Universities  of  St.  Andrews,  Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen,  were  founded 
by  Bulls  of  the  Pope  :  the  last,  that  of  Edinburgh,  was  founded  by 
the  initiation  of  the  Town  Council,  and  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Crown.  Such  elements  of  collegiate  foundations  as  once  existed  in 
St.  Andrews  and  Aberdeen  have  almost  disappeared.  Throughout 
their  history,  all  the  Universities  have  been  constantly  subject  to 
the  active  exercise  of  public  authority ;  they  were  early  deprived 
of  the  main  part  of  their  original  property,  and  have  since  subsisted 
partly  on  annually  voted  grants  by  Parliament,  and  partly  on  the 
fees  of  students,  which  a  practical  monopoly  of  professional  educa- 
tion secured  to  them.  But  this  monopoly  was  preserved  only  by 
the  fact  of  their  conforming  themselves  very  strictly  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  nation.  In  the  widest  sense  they  were  national 


54  STATE    EDUCATION. 

institutions,  with  small  fees,  and  easily  accessible  to  the  poorest. 
The  curriculum  which  they  afforded  and  the  standard  of  attainment 
at  which  they  aimed,  were  both  suited  to  a  poor  nation,  to  which  a 
prolonged  preliminary  training  was  impossible  ;  and  their  intimate 
connection  with  the  schools  of  the  country  kept  their  range  of  in- 
struction strictly  upon  the  lines  which  were  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  Scottish  people,  which  before  the  development  of 
Scottish  commerce,  rendered  a  professional  career  the  object  of 
chief  ambition  to  the  most  promising  Scottish  youth.  Popular  as 
they  were,  therefore,  the  Scottish  Universities  were  limited  in  the 
range  of  studies  which  they  offered.  The  Church,  Medicine,  and 
the  Law,  were  the  spheres  which  the  talented  Scotch  boy  sought  to 
enter ;  and  a  single  course  of  studies,  comprising  Classics,  Mathe- 
matics, and  Mental  Philosophy,  was  held  to  be  the  course  most 
fitted  as  a  preliminary  to  all  these  professions.  Of  late  years  the 
social  conditions  of  the  country  have  been  changed.  Commerce, 
Colonial  enterprise,  and  the  practical  application  of  mechanical 
science,  now  offer  tempting  careers.  The  professions  no  longer 
present  the  one  goal  of  ambition  ;  and  if,  therefore,  the  Universities 
are  to  hold  their  place  as  popular  and  national  institutions,  they 
must  offer  courses  of  training  fitted  for  these  new  careers,  as  the  old 
course  was  fitted  for  the  three  learned  professions.  So  to  adapt 
them  is  the  work  that  lies  before  the  Commission  which  is  now 
entering  on  its  labours,  and  to  this  the  efforts  of  the  Commission 
must  be  chiefly  directed.  No  mistake  will  be  more  fatal  than  to 
attempt  a  reconstruction  of  the  Universities  according  to  any  pre- 
conceived ideal  or  any  foreign  model.  They  are  the  product 
of  Scottish  histoiy,  and  the  result  of  Scottish  requirements.  These 
requirements  have  changed  and  have  multiplied,  and  the  range  of 
the  Universities  must  accordingly  be  widened.  But  they  must 
remain  as  they  have  been,  popular  institutions,  less  occupied  with 
minute  scholarship  or  research  than  with  practical  educational 
needs.  The  Scottish  youth  will  not  be  likely  to  spend  a  larger  part 
of  their  lives  at  the  Universities  in  the  future  than  in  the  past. 
The  expenses  of  a  University  education  must  not  be  increased.  But 
on  their  old  lines  they  must  meet  the  new  requirements  of  the  day. 
As  they  do  so,  they  will  not  interfere  with,  but  will  enormously 
increase,  the  functions  of  the  Secondary  Schools.  Already  the 
School  Boards  are  doing  much  in  the  way  of  developing  these 
schools :  and  by  means  of  reformed  endowments,  their  equipments 
are  being  increased,  and  a  modern  and  technical  side  is  being  added 
to  the  old  classical  and  mathematical  course.  A  new  impulse  will 
be  given  to  all  this  when  the  Universities  introduce  a  wider  choice 
of  studies  ;  and  when,  by  their  means,  new  aims  are  definitely  set 
before  the  Schools,  the  latter  will  be  able  to  press  with  greater 
force  their  claims  to  more  liberal  local  and  Imperial  assistance. 
The  whole  range  of  Scottish  Education  presents  a  sufficient 
number  of  flaws  and  gaps ;  but  in  its  forward  progress  it  has  these 
advantages  on  its  side — a  sound  tradition,  a  long  growth,  a 
foundation  in  the  history  of  the  country ;  popular  sympathy  and 
interest,  and  a  determination  to  adapt  all  its  resources  energetically 


THE    SCOTCH    SYSTEM.  55 

to  meet  new  requirements.     It  has  at  least  avoided  one  educational 
danger — that  of  apathy  and  stagnation. 

We  have  left  to  the  last  any  reference  to  the  most  recent  and 
momentous  change  which  Scottish  Education  has  undergone.  Free 
Education,  or  such  "assistance"  to  Education  as  might  at  least 
escape  the  evident  anomaly  of  forcing  a  man  to  pay  for  what  he  is 
forced  by  statute  to  supply  to  his  child,  has  long  been  a  question  of 
academical  discussion.  No  one  denies  that  it  presents  certain  un- 
favourable aspects,  and  that  the  diminution  in  parental  responsibility 
may  involve,  at  first,  some  diminution  in  parental  ambition  or  interest. 
But  such  a  result  must  surely  be  short  lived.  The  compulsory  law 
can  be  enforced  with  far  greater  strictness  when  the  doors  of  the 
school  are  opened  free  of  charge ;  and  compulsion  in  one  generation 
produces  in  the  next  an  anxiety  to  partake  of  benefits  which  are 
realized  more  distinctly  in  proportion  as  they  are  widely  spread. 
And  even  those  who  gave  greatest  weight  to  the  possible  drawbacks 
were  forced  to  recognise  that  the  change  was  inevitable.  It  was  left 
to  Scotland  to  end  the  academical  discussion  by  a  quick  practical 
advance.  In  1888  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  assigned  to 
local  authorities  the  product  of  certain  taxes,  chiefly  that  of  the 
Probate  Duties.  When  the  English  Local  Government  Act  was 
passed  the  County  Councils  received  their  share  as  a  subsidy  to 
local  rates.  This  boon  Scotland  denied  herself;  and  instead  she 
insisted  on  devoting  a  sum,  which  will  amount  to  about  a  quarter  of 
a  million  annually,  to  the  relief  of  fees.  The  resolution  being  taken, 
the  means  and  plan,  according  to  which  it  might  be  carried  out, 
were  quickly  devised.  An  arrangement  by  which  the  sum  should 
be  distributed  amongst  all  State-aided  schools,  on  condition  of  their 
relieving  fees  up  to  a  certain  standard,  was  devised.  Into  the  details 
and  intricacies  of  this  scheme  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  here  ;  but 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  from  the  1st  of  October,  1889,  the  com- 
pulsory standards  (up  to  and  including  the  fifth)  are  entirety  free  in 
3041  out  of  3126  Scottish  Schools,  and  in  774  of  them  the  boon  of 
free  education  is  extended  even  further.  The  change  was  easily 
accomplished ;  and  throughout  the  whole  of  Scotland,  in  spite 
of  varying  conditions,  and  apparently  insuperable  difficulties,  the 
practical  good  sense  of  the  nation  has  enabled  it  to  effect  what  is 
little  less  than  a  revolution  with  scarcely  any  perceptible  friction, 
and  with  an  expedition  that  was  marvellous. 

In  England,  this  stage  of  education  has  not  yet  been  reached,  and 
many  of  her  leading  minds  are  now  agitated  with  the  question 
whether  she  will  soon  follow  where  Scotland  has  led  the  way.  The 
principle  was  decided  b}'  the  debate  of  the  21st  Februa^  in  the 
British  Parliament,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  difficulties  will 
stand  in  the  way  of  carrying  into  practice  in  England  what  has 
been  found  beneficial  elsewhere.  For  Scotland,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  add  that  it  will  be  for  her  to  complete  the  national  system  by 
an  extension  of  Secondary  Education  on  a  scale  which  will  give  her 
an  educational  lead  amongst  the  nations,  and  secure  for  her  more 
firmly  that  rich  inheritance  which  it  ib  her  business  to  preserve 
and  develope. 


PART   IV. 

NATIONAL   EDUCATION   IN   IEELAND. 

SECTION  1. — Historical. 

FOB  a  due  elucidation  of  the  subject  of  National  Education  in 
Ireland,  it  is  necessary  to  look  back  to  the  time  of  Henry  VIII., 
when  for  political  purposes,  rather  than  for  any  real  interest  in  the 
intellectual  progress  of  the  people,  the  Act  28  Henry  VIII.,  c.  15, 
was  passed  in  the  Irish  Parliament  enacting :  "  That  the  said 
English  tongue,  habit  and  order,  may  be  from  henceforth  (and 
without  ceasing  or  returning  at  any  time  to  Irish  habit  or  language), 
used  by  all  men  "...  Every  priest  was  to  learn  the  English 
tongue,  and  to  cause  his  people  "to  bid  their  beads  in  English." 
The  next  educational  law  was  the  12th  Elizabeth,  establishing,  in 
1570,  the  Protestant  Diocesan  Schools,  one  in  each  diocese,  which 
nominally  continued  until  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church 
in  1869.  The  7th  William  III.,  c.  4,  1695,  was  the  next  important 
provision  in  respect  to  Irish  education.  It  enacted  that  Irish 
Roman  Catholics  should  not  go  for  the  education  denied  to  them  at 
home  to  foreign  countries. 

The  Protestant  Charter  Schools  were  established  in  1753.  The 
Charter  recites  :  "  That  in  many  parts  of  this  Kingdom  there  were 
great  tracts  of  land  almost  entirely  inhabited  by  Papists  ;  that  the 
generality  of  the  Popish  natives  were  kept  by  their  Clergy  in  gross 
ignorance,  and  bred  up  in  great  disaffection  to  the  Government ;  that 
the  creating  Protestant  Charter  Schools  in  these  places  would  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  their  conversion  and  civilization."  These 
schools  received  during  their  existence  under  parliamentary  support 
£1,105,869.*  Until  1803  they  received  no  pupils  except  Roman 
Catholics.  The  hollowness  of  the  administration  of  them  is  exposed 
by  the  great  philanthropist  Howard  :  "  The  children  were  sickly,  pale, 
and  such  miserable  objects,  that  they  were  a  disgrace  to  all  society." 

Whilst  this  course  of  paternal  legislation  was  proceeding,  no 
thought  was  given  to  the  substance  of  education  itself,  to  books  for 
the  young,  the  training  of  teachers,  the  erection  of  school-houses,  or 
any  of  the  thousand  needs  of  popular  instruction.!  The  motto 

*  Royal  Commission,  1868-70.  Rep.  p.  492. 

t  Address  of  Sir  Patrick  Keenan,  K.C.M.G.,  C.B.,  to  Social  Science  Congress,  Dublin, 
1881. 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  57 

might  have  been  inscribed  on  all,  "  The  zeal  of  mine  house  hath 
eaten  me  up  !  "  The  Irish  people  were  not,  however,  destitute  of  love 
of  learning,  as  we  find  testified  by  Dr.  O'Donovan  and  other  Irish 
scholars,  including  Mr.  Eugene  O'Curry  in  his  evidence  in  1849 
before  the  Parliamentary  Committee  on  Public  Libraries.  Their 
ancient  laws  afford  evidence  of  their  civilization  from  a  remote  past, 
and  German  philologists  have  shown  the  importance  of  the  Irish 
language.  The  first  real  attempt  to  remedy  the  evils  of  the  old 
system  of  educational  legislation  for  Ireland  was  in  1805,  when  a 
Commission  was  appointed  to  report  on  schools  of  public  or 
charitable  foundation  in  Ireland.  This  Commission  made  several 
reports,  and  testified  to  the  general  desire  of  the  people  for  educa- 
tion. In  1811,  a  society  was  founded  in  Ireland,  popularly  known 
as  the  "  Kildare  Place  Society,"  comprising  both  Roman  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  for  the  encouragement  of  schools  in  which  the 
reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment,  would 
form  part  of  the  daily  curriculum.  The  Society  obtained  grants 
from  Parliament,  commencing  with  £6,980  in  the  year  1814,  and 
subsequently  rising  to  about  £30,000  a  year,  and  continuing  for 
several  years  at  that  rate.  At  first  the  Society  made  somewhat  fair 
progress,  but  the  requirement  as  to  Scripture  reading  for  all  the 
pupils  eventually  proved  fatal  to  its  success.  Opposition  was 
excited  amongst  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  teachers  of  the  Society's 
Training  College  and  Schools  were  denounced,  the  pupils  fell  away ; 
at  length  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  and  other  distinguished  Protestants 
as  well  as  Catholics,  resigned  connexion  with  the  Society,  and  soon 
afterwards,  in  1831,  the  Parliamentary  Grants  ceased. 

We  have,  however,  here  to  observe  the  fact,  that  a  real  effort 
was  made  in  Ireland  towards  establishing  popular  education  some 
years  before  England  first  attempted  anything  resembling  a  Govern- 
mental system,  which  was  not  until  1839.  The  failure  of  Kildare 
Place  Society  brings  us  to  the  birth  of  the  present  system  of  National 
Education. 

SECTION  2. — The  National  System  and  its  results. 

Of  all  the  agencies  brought  into  existence  in  the  present  century 
for  redeeming  past  misgovernment  in  Ireland,  perhaps  the  most 
pervading  and  effective  is  the  System  of  National  Education,  insti- 
tuted in  October  1831,  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Stanley  (afterwards  Lord 
Derby)  to  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  when  Lord  Grey  was  Premier, 
Lord  Anglesea  was  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  Mr.  Stanley 
himself  the  Chief  Secretary.  The  letter  describes  the  new  system 
as  one  for  combined  moral  and  literary  and  separate  religious 
instruction ;  the  books  used  are  to  be  under  the  sanction  of  the  Board ; 
and  the  Board  are  to  permit  and  encourage  the  Clergy  to  give 
religious  instruction  to  the  children  of  their  respective  persuasions. 

The  constitution  of  the  Board  itself  should  give  a  security  to  the 
Country,  "  that  whilst  the  interests  of  religion  are  not  overlooked, 
the  most  scrupulous  care  should  be  taken  not  to  interfere  with  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  any  description  of  Christian  pupils." 


58  STATE    EDUCATION. 

The  National  System  was  thus  a  compromise,  whereby  the  special 
interests  of  the  denominations  as  regards  religious  teaching  were 
to  be  harmonized  with  the  general  demand  for  safe  and  efficient 
literary  and  moral  education.  To  administer  this  system  a  Board 
was  appointed  of  eminent  individuals, — independent,  and  representa- 
tive of  the  various  sections  of  the  Community. 

The  original  Board  constituted  by  the  Government  to  undertake 
this  great  work  comprised  seven  members,  of  whom  two  were 
Archbishops,  one  Protestant,  Dr.  Whately,  the  other  Catholic,  Dr. 
Murray.  In  1838  three  additional  members  were  appointed  ;  in  1839 
two  more  ;  and  so  on  until  we  find  in  1852  that  there  were  fifteen 
members,  of  whom  six  were  Roman  Catholics.  In  1845  the  Board 
was  incorporated  by  Royal  Charter ;  and  in  1861  a  Supplemental 
Charter  was  granted  under  which  ten  members  must  be  Roman 
Catholics  and  ten  Protestants.  The  only  paid  member  of  the  Board 
is  the  Resident  Commissioner,  who  is  the  centre  and  Chief  of  the 
general  administration. 

The  inauguration  of  the  National  System  was  hailed  with  satis- 
faction by  the  great  body  of  the  Catholic  Clergy  and  Laity.  It 
was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Clergy  of  the  Established  Church, 
who  resented  the  violation  of  the  exclusive  right  that  had  been  claimed 
by  their  predecessors,  and  that  they  themselves  had  inherited,  of 
educating  the  entire  Community.  The  Presbyterians  shared  with 
them  a  common  apprehension  as  to  the  enormous  power,  under  the 
system,  that  would  be  given  to  the  Catholic  Clergy,  and  they  too 
showed  great  hostility.  There  was,  moreover,  in  the  Catholic 
Church  itself,  no  inconsiderable  section,  headed  by  Archbishop 
MacHale,  who  would  not  touch  the  compromise,  holding  fast  to 
the  venerable  maxim :  "  The  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans  !  "  The  fact  stands  out  clear,  however,  in  the  history  of 
the  system,  that — as  made  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Common- 
wealth— it  was  a  sincere  endeavour  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  The  plan  was  cautiously  accepted  by  Mr. 
O'Connell  in  Parliament.  The  Roman  Catholic  Bishops,  in  1826, 
whilst  proposing  safeguards,  passed,  inter  alia,  the  following 
Resolution  : — "  That  the  admission  of  Protestants  and  Roman 
Catholics  into  the  same  Schools  for  the  purpose  of  Literary  instruc- 
tion may,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  allowed,  provided  sufficient 
care  be  taken  to  protect  the  religion  of  the  children,  and  to  furnish 
them  with  adequate  means  of  instruction  ;  "  *  and  Bishop  Doyle,  the 
vehement  denouncer  of  the  Kildare  Place  Society,  and  demander  of 
Catholic  Schools,  was  quite  prepared  to  accept  the  principle  of  the 
system  :  "I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  the  ardent  desire  I  feel 
of  having  the  children  of  all  Irishmen  without  distinction  united 
in  Schools  and  in  every  relation  of  life ;  "  moreover,  this  prelate 
issued  a  Circular  Letter  to  his  Clergy  in  December,  1831,  recom- 
mending them  to  adopt  the  National  System  (Rept.  Cornmrs.  N.E. 
1839). 

The  Royal    Commissioners  of   1868-70,    recording   the   general 

*  Royal  Commission,  1868-70,  p.  122. 


THE    IRIS  PI    SYSTEM.  59 

sentiment  of  Roman  Catholics  at  the  inauguration,  state  (Report, 
p.  70)  :  "  In  general  they  received  the  new  system  willingly." 

The  beginnings  were  very  humble,  and  gave  but  faint  forecast  of 
the  future  developments.  In  1834,  the  Schools  numbered  739,  and 
were  attended  by  107,042  children.  The  salaries  of  the  Teachers 
from  Imperial  funds  were  £12  for  Masters  and  £8  for  Mistresses. 
The  population  of  Ireland  at  the  time  was  8,000,000.  The  Com- 
mission looked  forward  to  an  ultimate  development,  when  the 
Schools  would  number  5,000,  and  the  annual  expenditure  by  the 
State  on  National  Education  would  rise  to  £200,000.  The  event 
compares  favourably  with  this  moderate  anticipation. 

In  the  year  1840  occurred  what  is  historically  known  as  the 
junction  of  the  Presbyterians  with  the  Board,  when  the  Commis- 
sioners first  definitely  recognised  the  distinction  between  Vested  and 
Non-Vested  Schools ;  in  the  former  of  which,  built  by  aid  from  the 
State,  the  Pastors  or  others,  approved  by  the  parents,  have  the  right 
of  access  at  convenient  times  to  impart  religious  instruction  to  the 
pupils  of  their  own  creed ;  whilst  in  the  case  of  the  Non- Vested 
Schools,  Managers  are  not  required  to  give  such  access.  This 
concession  in  no  \va,y  infringed  the  great  principle  of  the  Conscience 
Clause,  which  must  be  as  rigorously  enforced  in  Non- Vested  as  in 
Vested  Schools.  The  Conscience  Clause  itself  has  always  had  for 
its  object  the  protection  of  the  conscience  of  every  child,  but  it 
underwent  various  modifications  of  form,  until  it  assumed  its  present 
scope,  namely,  that  when  the  religion  of  a  child  is  once  entered  on 
the  School  Register,  the  teacher,  if  of  a  different  religious  persua- 
sion, must  not  permit  the  child — unless  under  the  written  authority 
of  the  parent  on  a  certificate  duly  witnessed — to  remain  in  attend- 
ance whilst  religious  instruction  is  proceeding. 

The  Conscience  Clause  is,  of  course,  mainly  in  full  efficiency  in 
those  Schools  which  have  a  mixed  attendance,  that  is,  48  per  cent, 
of  all  the  Schools  of  the  country,  most  of  the  minorities  in  the 
mixed  schools  consisting  only  of  a  few  pupils. 

The  following  evidence  before  the  Lords  Committee  of  1854,  given 
by  a  distinguished  Roman  Catholic  divine,  Very  Rev.  Dean  Meyler, 
who  was  also  a  Commissioner  of  National  Education,  throws  a  very 
gratifying  light  on  the  system  in  its  early  years  : 

"  The  Pope,  although  in  the  beginning  he  had  entertained  a  very 
different  opinion,  at  length  called  upon  the  Bishops  to  thank  the 
Government  for  giving  so  much  of  its  wealth  to  the  poor  children  of 
their  country  ;  '  Let  it  go  on,'  he  said,  '  but  be  cautious  against  the 
use  of  improper  books.'  " 

Thenceforward  the  National  S}rstem  advanced  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  Nothing  could  arrest  the  tide  of  progress ;  not  even  the 
temporary  difficulties  that  arose  in  the  course  of  time,  mainly,  it 
must  be  confessed,  through  influences  from  the  Protestant  side,  to 
warp  the  system,  if  possible,  from  its  direct  aim  of  excluding  the 
possibility  of  proselytism.  The  Schools  rapidly  multiplied,  and 
children  gathered  to  them  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  a  Social 
and  Political  Revolution  was  advancing.  General  intelligence  was 
already  producing  fruit  in  popular  literature  and  the  omnipresent 


60  STATE    EDUCATION. 

newspaper.  The  peasant  in  his  thatched  cabin  beheld  in  the  magic 
broadsheet  a  new  world.  Political  life  was  opening  to  his  view. 
From  the  nursery  of  the  humble  National  School  he  had  come  at 
length  to  realise  that  "  knowledge  is  power."  Different,  indeed, 
was  his  position  from  that  of  his  progenitors  in  the  olden  time, 
when — 

"  Still  crouching  'neath  the  sheltering  hedge  or  stretched  on  mountain  fern. 
The  teacher  and  his  pupils  met  feloniously  to  learn  !  " 


SECTION  3. — Difficulties  regarding  Building  Grants  and 
School  Books. 

The  difficulties  just  referred  to,  that  beset  the  Board  at  intervals 
of  its  earlier  history  were  few,  but  some  were  serious.  Space  would 
not  permit  to  revert  at  any  length  to  old  controversies  ;  but  there 
were  two  matters  of  such  importance  that  they  must  be  noticed. 
The  first  had  relation  to  building  grants,  and  the  second  to  books. 
Before  the  Charter  of  1845  was  granted,  under  which  the  Commis- 
sioners in  their  corporate  capacity  could  have  schools  vested  in 
themselves  and  hold  lands,  the  Schools  built  by  aid  from  the  State 
had  to  be  vested  in  trustees  for  educational  purposes  ;  but  this 
arrangement,  after  the  grant  of  the  Charter,  was  discontinued. 
This  step  led  to  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Prelates  as  to  possible  ulterior  objects,  and  in  1850  was  denounced 
by  the  Synod  of  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  which  was  held  at 
Thurles. 

As  regards  the  other  difficulty,  certain  books  written  by  Archbishop 
Whately  on  the  "Truths"  and  the  "Evidences"  of  Christianity 
were,  for  a  time,  allowed  to  be  used  in  the  National  Schools  during 
the  combined  instruction  of  the  pupils.  The  Commissioners  in 
1853  decreed  their  banishment.  A  veritable  "Battle  of  the  Books  " 
ensued.  The  Archbishop  committed  official  suicide  by  resigning 
his  commission  in  protest  against  the  Board's  action.  Great  ex- 
citement was  created  amongst  Protestants  almost  in  every  part  of 
the  Empire  that  culminated  in  the  appointment,  in  1854,  of  an 
unusually  strong  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords.  The  Com- 
mittee, however,  failed  to  make  a  Report  on  the  evidence  taken,  and 
its  enquiries  practically  ended  in  a  vindication  of  the  Board,  and  in 
the  permanent  exclusion  of  the  books  as  unsuited  for  common  use 
in  the  National  Schools. 

The  difficulty  in  the  former  case  was  not  got  over  until  1861, 
when  the  Board  reverted  to  the  original  arrangement  as  to  building 
grants,  giving  henceforth  to  Managers  the  option  of  having  the 
Schools  vested  in  trustees,  or  vested  in  the  Commissioners  in  their 
corporate  capacity.  As  the  result  of  this  remedial  action,  we  find 
there  are  now 


Schools  Vested  in  Trustees     .          .         .     j.,<7uj.  t  T  t  1  9  QQ3 
Vested  in  the  Commissioners  972  f  -Lotal  *>*™ 


The  activity  in  respect  to  School  buildings  in  Ireland  may  be  judged 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  61 

from  the  following  figures  taken  from  the  last  Report  of  the  Com- 
missioners : 

Building  grants  made  within  the  last  seven  years  : — 

To  Roman  Catholic  Managers          .         .         .     £172,630 
To  Managers  of  the  late  Established  Church    .  6,847 

To  Presbyterian  Managers       ....         10,980 


Total  (7  years)     £190,457 

It  would  appear  that  the  work  of  building  Schools  might  proceed 
even  more  briskly,  but  for  the  difficulty  often  experienced  in  obtaining 
sites.*  In  view  of  the  abolition  long  since  of  grants  to  build  in 
England,  we  must  say  that  Ireland  is  especially  privileged  in  having 
such  aid  still  offered  to  the  Managers  of  her  National  Schools. 

Besides  the  2,933  Vested  Schools  there  are  5,643  Non- Vested 
Schools. 

SECTION  4. — School  Management  and  Inspection. 

Managership  of  Schools  under  the  Irish  National  System  is 
unique  in  character.  It  is  local  government  by  one  man,  and,  as  a 
rule,  that  man  the  Priest,  the  Parson,  or  the  Presbyterian  Minister. 
The  Manager  is,  in  point  of  fact,  supreme.  He  holds  the  appoint- 
ment and  dismissal  of  the  Teachers ;  the  arrangement  of  the  Time 
Table  of  daily  School  business  is  under  his  control ;  the  determi- 
nation of  religious  instruction  is  his  vital  concern ; — all  these 
functions,  however,  for  their  due  exercise,  coming  under  the 
purview  of  the  Inspector  of  Schools.  It  is  scarcety  necessary  to 
observe  that  the  vast  bulk  of  the  Schools  are  under  the  management 
of  the  Clergy. 

In  the  year  1881  (the  latest  returns  we  have  been  able  to 
obtain)  the  distribution  of  the  Schools  as  to  management  was  as 
follows  : — 

1,481  Roman  Catholic  Managers  govern  5,128  National  Schools. 
786  Church  of  Ireland  „      1,365         „  *„ 

536  Presbyterian  „         814         „  „ 

90  Other  denominations  „          124         ,,  „ 

Of  course,  the  Schools  under  the  Roman  Catholic  Managers  are, 
generally,  larger  than  those  under  Protestants,  as  may  be  judged 
from  the  total  number  of  pupils  of  the  respective  denominations  on 
the  rolls  of  National  Schools  : — 

Roman  Catholic  pupils  .  .  826,181,  or  77*9  per  cent. 

Church  of  Ireland  pupils  .  109,687,  or  10'3 

Presbyterian  pupils         .  .  111*072,  or  10'5       „ 

Other  denomination  pupils  .       13,955,  or    1*3       ,, 

*  Act  44  &  45  Vic.  c.  65,  1881,  was  introduced  to  enable  limited  owners  to  grant 
sites  for  National  Schools  in  Ireland.  Mr.  Campbell-Bannerman  more  recently,  when 
Chief  Secretary,  proposed  a  Bill  for  the  compulsory  acquisition  of  sites  for  such 
purpose,  but  it  fell  through. 


62  STATE    EDUCATION. 

We  cannot  dismiss  this  subject  without  reference  to  an  important 
consideration.  Whilst  the  power  of  the  Local  Manager  is  prac- 
tically absolute — subject  to  the  Conscience  Clause — a  power  certainly 
far  beyond  what  any  other  country  in  the  world  that  has  a  public 
system  of  education  recognizes,  a  power,  moreover,  so  great  that  we 
have  seen  Archbishop  Walsh  not  long  since  intervening  to  check  it 
by  means  of  episcopal  authoritj^  in  respect  to  the  dismissal  of 
teachers,  yet  we  find  that  the  Managers  are  responsible  for  only  one- 
fifth  part  of  the  burden  of  maintaining  the  Schools  : — 

INCOME  IN  1888. 

From  Government  Grants  to  the  Schools  .  £737,123 

(Rate  per  pupil  .  .  £1  10s.  2fd.) 

From  Local  Sources  ....  £194,984 

(Rate  per  pupil  .  .  £0  7s.  llf  d.) 

The  duties  of  a  School  Manager  are  no  sinecure.  He  has  to 
check  and  certify  the  School  returns,  and  afford  to  the  Commis- 
sioners his  guarantee  for  the  correctness  of  these  accounts  as  well 
as  for  the  conduct  of  the  Teachers,  and  the  observance  of  the  Rules 
of  the  Board.  On  the  whole,  the  Managerial  office  in  Ireland 
presents  an  interesting  instance  of  denominational  mediation  between 
a  mixed  Board  and  a  mixed  Community,  for  the  common  good. 

In  immediate  connexion  with  the  duties  of  Managers,  we  have  to 
glance  at  the  kindred  topic  of  inspection. 

It  is  the  practice  of  the  Board — we  think  it  a  wise  one — to  subject 
all  candidates  for  the  office  of  Inspector  to  Examination  in  an  ex- 
tensive and  appropriate  programme,  by  the  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sioners. This  programme  is  the  "  scientific  frontier  "  against  all 
attempts  at  jobbery ;  and,  especially  in  earlier  years,  when  many 
oblique  influences  tried  to  beset  the  administration  in  this  respect, 
the  arrangement  to  shut  the  door  against  them  was  highly  prudent. 

Further,  with  a  view  to  commanding  the  public  confidence  in  the 
fair  play  of  the  administration,  the  Board  appoint  one-half  of  the 
Inspection  Corps  Protestant  and  the  other  half  Catholic.  Their 
Inspectors,  however,  have  no  responsibility  as  regards  the  efficienc}*, 
&c.,  of  religious  instruction  in  the  National  Schools,  the  Managers 
looking  zealously  to  that  department.  The  Inspectors'  function 
being  secular,  there  is  freedom  from  cross-sectional  business,  such 
as  is  involved  in  denominational  inspection,  and  there  is  corre- 
sponding economy  of  time  and  cost. 


SECTION  5. — School-TeacJicrs  and  Maintenance. 

On  the  31st  December,  1888,  there  were  7,921  Principal  Teachers 
and  3,166  Assistant  Teachers,  all  of  whom  were  Certificated,  in 
employment  in  the  National  Schools. 

The  pay  of  National  Teachers  comprises  Class  Salaries  (fixed) ; 
Results-fees  payable  on  ascertained  proficiency  of  pupils  at  the 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  63 

annual  Results  examination  of  the  schools  ;  and  local  emoluments, 
such  as  school  pence  of  pupils,  subscriptions,  and  (in  a  few  Poor- 
Law  Unions)  contributions  from  the  rates. 

The  last  Report  of  the   Commissioners  gives  the  following  par- 
ticulars under  these  heads  for  the  Principal  Teachers. 


AVEEAGE   INCOME   OP   PEINCIPAL   TEACHEES. 


Class  of  Teacher. 

Number  of 
Teachers 
included 
in  Return. 

FROM   PARLIAMENTARY 
GRANT   IN   AID. 

FROM  LOCAL   SOURCES. 

Class 
Salary  and 
Good  Ser- 
vice Salary. 

Results- 
fees, 
Gratuities, 
&c.,  from 
Board. 

Results- 
fees  from 
Rates. 

Local  Con- 
tributions, 
including 
School 
pence  of 
Pupils. 

Total. 

Males  :— 
P. 
I*.     .        .     . 
II.  . 
III.       .         .     . 

224 
474 
1,954 
1.474 

£      s.     d. 

70     9     3£ 
53  15     8 
44     6  11 
35     1     0 

£         6'.        d, 

32     9     0£ 
25     1     0| 
21  10     8J 
16  18     5 

£      s.     d. 

4     2     3i 
1    17      If 
1     9     2 
0  19     3 

£      s.     d. 

43  10     6| 
22  19     2 
16  11     2| 
12     7     7 

£      s.      d. 

150  11     H 
103  13     0" 
83  18    03 
65     6     3 

Total  . 
Average  for  all\ 
classes    .         .  / 

4,126 

43  10     7 

20  17     8 

1     9     5J 

17  15     3 

83     211 

Females  :  — 
I1  division     . 
I2  division     . 
II.       . 
III.  . 

Total       .     . 
Average  for   all  \ 
classes  .         .   / 

150 
353 

1,268 
976 

2,747 

57  14  10 
43  12     7 
34  15     H 
27  10     3| 

28     3     3 
23  13  11^ 
19  16  11 
16  12     5 

2     9  10 
1   15     6f 
1     8     4i 
1     0     3| 

23     4  10 
18     7     1 
13     6     5£ 
10  19     0^ 

111  12     9 

87     9     2JJ 
69     6  101; 

56     2     Of 

34  11     7 

19  12  11 

1     7     7| 

13  13     4| 

69     5     6 

Although  we  are  far  from  saying  that  the  condition  of  the  Irish 
Teachers  is  entirely  satisfactory,  or  indeed  anything  like  it,  yet  we 
observe  that  in  the  table  there  is  no  indication  of  the  cases  where 
the  incomes  of  husbands  and  wives  as  teachers  are  combined.  We 
have  reason  to  believe  that  there  are  large  numbers  of  instances  of 
such  educational  partnership  in  the  carrying  on  of  Schools,  to  the 
family  benefit. 

This  table,  however,  when  compared  with  the  incomes  of  the 
English  Teachers,  shows  rather  hard  lines  of  provision  for  the  Irish 
Staff,  but  also  shows  that  the  deficiency  is  entirely  in  the  local  aid. 
In  1875,  Sir  Michael  Hicks- Beach  tried  to  remedy  this  defect  by 
bringing  in  a  Bill  authorizing  Boards  of  Guardians  to  contribute 
out  of  the  rates  towards  augmenting  the  Results-fees.  This  Act, 
however,  has  failed  to  realize  the  hopes  of  the  Government,  the 
contributions  last  year  from  a  few  Unions  amounting  to  omV 
£17,683  ;  whereas,  had  all  the  Unions  availed  themselves  of  the 
power  conferred  on  them  by  the  Act,  the  amount  would  have  been 
£101,000. 


64  STATE    EDUCATION. 

In  1885,  Mr.  Campbell-Bannermann,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Commissioners,  brought  in  a  Bill  to  secure  the  contributions  by 
making  the  rating  compulsory,  but  the  Bill  never  reached  a  second 
reading. 

Loans  Acts  were  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  1875  and  1879 
to  enable  Managers  of  Schools  to  provide  Residences  for  their 
Teachers.  An  Act  passed  in  August  1879  that  appropriated  the 
sum  of  £1,300,000  of  the  Surplus  of  the  Irish  Church  Fund  towards 
the  establishment  of  a  Pensions'  Fund  for  the  Teachers.  One- 
fourth  of  the  entire  annual  premiums  is  contributed  by  the  Teachers 
themselves,  the  remaining  three-fourths  being  met  by  the  interest  on 
the  appropriated  sum.  The  teachers  complain  that  the  calculations 
of  the  scheme  have  been  made  on  the  hypothesis  of  lives  approach- 
ing the  longevity  enjoyed  by  Methuselah — an  hypothesis  which, 
relieved  of  its  exaggerated  form  of  the  description,  is,  we  should 
think,  susceptible  of  some  actuarial  improvement  in  favour  of  the 
Teachers'  Pension  prospects. 

As  regards  that  part  of  the  Teachers'  income  that  concerns 
results-fees,  it  is  so  important,  not  only  as  a  means  for  increasing 
their  remuneration,  but  also  as  an  instrumentality  of  educational 
efficiency,  that  it  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Lowe  (now  Lord  Sherbrook)  metamorphosed  the  system  of 
Parliamentary  grants  for  elementary  education  in  England,  by  a 
s>  stem  of  payments  for  results,  instead  of  personal  salaries  to  the 
Teachers,  Mr.  Fortescue  (now  Lord  Carlingford),  Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland,  suggested  to  the  Board  of  National  Education  in  Ireland 
a  trial  of  the  new  system  on  a  partial  scale.  This  was  in  1866. 
The  Commissioners  approved  of  Lord  Carlingford's  suggestion,  but 
owing  to  a  change  of  Government,  the  proposal  fell  for  the  moment 
into  abeyance.  In  the  meantime,  some  of  the  leading  Educational 
officers  of  the  Board  were  engaged  in  a  consideration  of  the  whole 
question,  and  the  examinations  of  some  of  the  National  Schools  were 
conducted  experimentally  as  to  its  effect  educationally,  and  its 
bearings  upon  the  payments  of  the  National  Teachers.  Early  in 
1868,  Mr.  Keenan.  (now  The  Right  Honourable  Sir  Patrick  Keenan) 
formulated  the  results  of  all  those  experiments  and  considerations 
in  a  scheme  which,  in  the  course  of  his  evidence,  he  submitted  to  the 
Royal  Commission  which  was  then  under  the  Presidency  of  Lord 
Powis,  inquiring  into  the  Irish  National  System.* 

The  English  system  was  held  to  be  faulty  in  three  most  important 
respects : — 

(1)  It  abolished  the  personality  of  the  teacher  in  his  relation  with 
the  Education  Department,  by  the  cancelling  of  all  personal 
grants  of  salary  ;   (2)  It  limited  the  grants  to  a  School  to  the 
precarious  issues  of  the  examination  for  results  ;   (3)   The  fee 
for  a  Pass  in  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic  was  an  all- 
round  one — the  same  for  every  subject  and  every  class. 
Sir  Patrick  Keenan 's  plan  was  to  maintain  the  individuality  of 
the  Teacher,  to  continue  the  old  system  of  personal  salary  to  him, 

*  Kep.  Royal  Commission,  1868-70 — Evidence,  vol.  iii.,  p.  89. 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  65 

and  to  award  him,  as  a  bonus  or  supplementary  grant,  fees  for 
ascertained  results.  This  principle  was  adopted  by  Lord  Powis' 
Commission.  Further,  Sir  Patrick's  plan,  instead  of  the  uniform 
fee,  as  in  England,  for  every  subject  and  every  class,  graduated  the 
fee  according  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  and  the  class  of  the 
child.  A  pupil,  for  instance,  in  the  first,  or  lowest  class,  could  earn 
for  its  teacher  a  certain  amount  of  results-fees,  whilst  a  pupil  in  the 
sixth  class  might  earn  more  than  double  that  amount.  The  great 
advantage  of  this  system  was  that  it  equilibrated  the  reward  of 
labour,  and  held  out  very  cogent  inducements  to  the  teachers  to 
qualify  their  pupils  for  promotion  from  class  to  class. 

The  Commissioners,  in  their  investigations  as  to  the  best  form  in 
which  a  system  of  payment  by  results  might  be  administered,  had 
under  serious  investigation  various  other  Suggestions  and  Schemes; 
but,  in  1871,  the  system  which  we  have  described  was  partially,  and 
in  1872  was  fully,  applied  in  the  examination  of  the  scholars  and 
the  payment  of  the  Teachers. 

Although  introduced  after  so  many  years  of  close  investigation 
and  experiment,  the  Commissioners,  feeling  that  in  the  light  of 
experience,  the  system  as  a  mode  of  examination,  and  as  governing 
the  course  of  instruction  in  their  Schools,  was  susceptible  of  develop- 
ment, have  every  year  since  1871  held  a  Conference  of  their  Head 
Inspectors  to  consider  its  operations  and  to  extend  its  efficiency. 
Scarcely  a  year  has  since  then  passed  without  some  new  develop- 
ment— either  in  detail  as  to  the  incidents  of  examination  or  the 
matter  of  instruction — as  the  outcome  of  the  Conferences  of  their 
Head  Inspectors. 

But  the  ears  of  the  Commissioners  were  also  open  from  year  to 
year  to  the  representations  of  the  Teachers  ;  for,  as  a  rule,  at  their 
annual  Congress  a  Deputation  of  them  waited  upon  the  Resident 
Commissioner,  and  at  his  ready  bidding  unfolded  their  views  and 
suggestions  as  to  the  "results"  programme,  and  the  general  pro- 
cedure of  the  examinations.  These  representations  were  in  due 
course  presented  to  the  Head  Inspectors  for  deliberation;  and 
finally,  if  approved,  reached  the  Board  to  be  fiated  for  incorporation 
in  their  Code. 


SECTION  6. — Reforms  and  extensions  of  the  Educational  system. 

A  narrative  of  these  changes  would  engage  us  in  such  an  historical 
account  of  Irish  Primary  Education  as  would  outstrip  the  bounds 
we  have  in  view  in  writing  this  article  ;  but  as  a  sample  we  would 
point  out  the  division  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  classes  (the  highest), 
each  division  occupying  the  course  of  a  year,  thus  extending  the 
period  of  a  child's  instruction,  beyond  the  mere  infant  stage,  from 
six  to  eight  years,  each  year  carrying  its  own  results-fees  for  pro- 
ficiency in  the  subjects  of  the  school  programme. 

We  cannot,  however,  fail  to  notice,  as  bearing  upon  the  utilitarian 
aspect  of  Irish  National  Education,  that  one  of  the  developments 

VOL.    I.  F 


66  STATE    EDUCATION. 

of  the  "  results  "  programme  is  to  make  agricultural  instruction 
obligatory  for  boys,  and  carrying  a  substantial  and  additional  results- 
fee  for  proficiency  in  all  rural  schools,  in  the  fourth,  and  in  each 
division  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  classes.  Nor  again  can  we  fail  to 
glance  at  the  recent  rule*  which,  whilst  declaring  that  the  literary 
education  of  girls  who  have  passed  the  two  stages  of  the  Fifth  class 
is  substantially  adequate,  lays  down  that  the  remainder  of  their 
school-life  should  be  mainly  devoted  to  Industrial  training, — such 
training  carrying  with  it  results-fees  to  the  Teachers  equivalent  to 
those  paid  on  the  old  literary  programme. 

But  it  must  be  added  that  the  Results  system,  whilst  encouraging, 
by  the  award  of  fees,  proficiency  in  Reading,  Spelling,  Writing, 
Arithmetic,  Grammar,  Geography,  Book-keeping,  Needlework  (for 
Girls),  Agriculture,  and  Vocal  Music  in  the  Ordinary  Programme, 
has  developed,  in  a  course  of  Extra  branches  carrying  results-fees, 
a  curriculum  which  embraces  Drawing,  Geometry,  Algebra,  Men- 
suration, Trigonometry,  Handicraft  (for  Boys),  Sewing-Machine, 
Domestic  Economy,  Cookery,  Dairying,  Management  of  Poultry 
(for  Girls),  Hygiene,  the  Physical  Sciences,  Navigation,  Classics, 
French,  German,  Irish,  and  even  Instrumental  Music. 

But  this  does  not  represent  all  that  the  Commissioners  have 
from  time  to  time  been  attempting  to  accomplish  in  the  perfecting 
of  their  scheme,  as  it  is  well  known  that  "My  Lords"  of  the 
Treasury  unfortunately  stand  in  front  in  many  important  questions 
to  resist  some  of  their  most  interesting  proposals ;  for  we  learn 
from  Sir  Patrick  Keenan's  evidence  before  Lord  Cross's  Royal 
Commission  of  1887  (Q.  53,290 — 2)  that  their  educational  policy 
in  regard  to  Programmes  of  certain  Extra  Branches  as  well  as 
the  adoption  of  Kindergarten,  has  been  called  in  question  by  the 
Treasury.  The  following  is  his  statement  in  reference  to  a  new 
Programme  in  Geometry : — 

"  We  sent  the  Programme  to  the  Treasury  with  an  intimation 
that  it  would  involve  some  extra  expenditure,  and  the  decision  of 
the  Treasury  was,  that  the  old  programme  was  good  enough  for  the 
needs  of  the  country." 

The  Results  system,  however,  which  in  the  year  1871  was  inau- 
gurated under  very  humble  auspices,  has  thus  by  gradual  develop- 
ments been  brought  to  attain  dimensions  which  we  apprehend  are 
not  discernible  in  any  other  system  of  public  instruction  in  the 
world. 

To  record  what  the  Commissioners  may  very  naturally  regard  as 
triumphs  of  their  system,  in  simplest  fashion,  we  must  content 
ourselves  by  noting  what  has  been  done  for  the  "three  Rs,"  or  Keys 
of  Knowledge,  as  they  are  often  designated.  The  percentages  of 
pupils  who  passed  were  : — 

Year.  Reading.          Writing-.        Arithmetic. 

1870     .         .         70-5  57'7  54'4 

1888     .         .         94-1  95-9  82.3 

*  Commissioners'  JsT.  E.  Report,  1888,  p.  21. 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM. 


67 


The  results-system  in  Ireland  has  contributed  largely  to  improved 
attendance  of  pupils,  the  average  daily  attendance  having  risen  from 
355,821  in  1872  to  493,883  in  1888,  and  the  total  number  examined 
for  results-fees  from  315,646  in  the  former  to  565,468  in  the  latter 
year.  The  system  has  had  its  eifect  on  the  homes  of  the  children  in 
awakening  an  increased  interest  in  the  school  arrangements  of  their 
children  on  the  part  of  the  parents,  and  in  quickening  the  emula- 
tion of  the  scholars  themselves  in  a  manner  unknown  previously. 

The  Scale  of  Results-Fees,  last  year,  is  as  follows : — 


SCALE    OF   EESULTS-FEES. 

Ordinary  and  Optional  Branches. 


Subjects. 

Infants. 

First. 

Second. 

Third. 

Fourth. 

Fifth 
Class, 
1st 
Stage. 

Fifth 

Class, 
2nd 
Stage. 

!    Sixth 
I  Class, 
1st  and 
2nd 
Exami- 
nations. 

s      d 

s      d. 

s  d 

s  d 

s  d 

s      d 

s         ft 

s      d 

Infants'  Course 

3     U 

Beading  .         .         .     . 
Spelling 
Writing  .         .         .     . 
Arithmetic  . 
Grammar         .         .     . 
Geography  . 
Book-keeping  (optional) 
Needlework  (girls)     .     . 
Agriculture 

2     0 
1     0 
1     0 
1     0 

2  0 
1  0 
1  0 
2  0 

0  6 

2  6 
1  0 
1  6 
2  6 
1  0 
1  0 

1  0 

2  6 
1  0 
1  6 
2  6 
1  6 
1  0 

a"*0; 

4:  0 

2     6 
1     0 
1     6 
2     6 
1     6 
1     6 
2     6 
2     6 
5     0 

2     6 
1     0 
1     6 
2     6 
1     6 
1     6 
2     6 
2     6 
5     0 

2     6 
1     0 
2     0 
3     0 
1     6 
1     6 
3     0 
3     0 
5     0 

Vocal  music  (optional)  . 

... 

1  0 

2-  6 

2  6 

2     G 

2     6 

3     0 

Extra  Branches- Fees  for  Passes. 


Sixth 

!    Fifth 

Fifth 

Class, 

Third 

Fourth  '    Class, 

Class, 

1st  and 

Drawing. 

Six  examinations  ac- 
cording to  class. 

Class. 

Class.  '      1st 
!   Stage. 

2nd 
Stage. 

2nd 
Exami- 
nations. 

s.      d. 

s.      d.      s.      d. 

s.      d. 

s.      d. 

2     6 

26       20 

2     6 

3      0 

i 

For  pupils  of  5th  and 

Each  series  of  examinations  may 

6th  classes  : 

commence  in  the  1st  or  2nd 

stage 

Girls  reading-book 

of  5th  class,  or  in  the  1st  or  2nd 

and      domestic 
economy  (com- 

Two exams.  3s.  each 

year  of  6th  class,  and  whenever 
commenced    may    be   completed, 

bined) 

except  in  the  case  of  Navigation, 

Greek         .        .     . 

Three    „     10s.  each 

which 

can  be  commenced  only  in 

Latin 

Three     „     10s.  each 

6th  class. 

Irish  .         .         .     . 

Three     „     10,9.  each 

In  thoroughly  organized  infants' 

French  . 

Three    „       5s.  each 

schools  or  departments,    4s 

.    per 

Other      extra^, 

infants'   pass  is  payable  ;  and   if 

branches       ap-  I 
proved  by  Com-  [ 
missioners    (set  / 
forth    page  66, 

Number  of  ^ 
exams.as  j-  5s.  each 
per  code  J 

Kindergarten  be  efficiently  prac- 
tised, 2s.  additional   to  the  ordi- 
nary fees  per  pupil  in  Infants'  1st, 
2nd,  and  3rd  classes. 

supra)                 j 

68 


STATE    EDUCATION. 


Originally  the  grants  from  public  funds  to  National  Schools  bore 
only  a  small  proportion  to  the  total  cost  of  maintenance,  and  the 
early  reports  of  the  Board  frequently  assert  that  the  salaries  payable 
were  only  supplemental  to  local  payments.*  The  Grants  have,  how- 
ever, steadily  increased  from  the  first  modest  salaries  of  £12  a  year 
to  Masters,  and  £8  to  Mistresses,  to  the  present  scale,  which,  irre- 
spective of  Results-Fees,  rises  according  to  class  from  £35  the 
lowest,  to  £70  the  highest  rate  for  Masters,  and  from  £27  10s.  the 
lowest,  to  £58  the  highest  rate  for  Mistresses,  with  £35  to  Male  and 
£27  to  Female  Assistants.  The  total  Salaries  from  the  Board  in 
1888—9  reached  £427,069,  whilst  the  Results-Fees  from  the  Board 
amounted  to  £202,266,  a  supplemental  income  of  nearly  one-half 
the  class  salaries.  In  addition,  the  sum  of  £10,524  was  paid  to  the 
Teachers  for  special  instruction  of  their  Monitors,  and  the  sum  of 
£52,931  went  to  the  Monitors  themselves  in  small  salaries. 

The  following  figures  show  the  development,  since  the  year  1840, 
in  the  number  of  Schools,  number  of  Scholars,  and  the  Parlia- 
mentary Grant : — 


Year. 

Population. 

National 
Schools. 

Total  No.  of  Pupils 
on  the  Rolls  of  the 
National  Schools. 

Total  Parliamentary 
Grant  (including 
buildings). 

£ 

1840-1 

8,196,597 

1,978 

232,560 

50,000 

1860-1 

5,798,967 

5.632 

804,000 

294,041 

1889-90 

4,750,722 

8,196 

1,060,895 

953,675 

SECTION  7. — Training  of  Teachers. 

The  training  of  Teachers  for  the  National  Schools  was  long  the 
subject  of  angry  controversy,  and  even  still  disputes  are  not  alto- 
gether ended.  The  Commissioners  opened  their  own  College  for 
Masters  in  1833  on  the  mixed  principle  of  Catholics  and  Protestants 
being  educated  and  domiciled  together  in  the  same  institution.  At 
first  it  was  impracticable  to  do  more  than  merely  give  the  outline 
of  a  training  course  to  the  Teachers,  who  were  admitted  for  brief 
•courses  of  from  three  to  five  months.  In  the  year  1840,  the  Train- 
ing College  for  Mistresses  was  opened  on  the  same  principle.  Each 
College  was  largely  frequented  by  both  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
until,  in  1850,  the  Synod  of  Thurles  denounced  the  system  of  mixed 
training,  and  demanded  separate  grants  for  Denominational  Training 
Colleges.  The  numbers  of  the  R.  C.  Students  gradually  diminished 
from  being  in  a  proportion  of  four  to  one  to  only  about  one  half,  and 
the  training  of  the  Catholic  Teachers  became  thereby  a  matter  of 
serious  concern. 

The  Commissioners  had  already,  so  far  back  as  1834,  tried  the 
stipendiary  monitorial  system  in  Dublin — a  time  long  antecedent  to 


*  Commissioners  of  N.  E.  Reports,  1846,  1847,  ct  seq. 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  69 

the  introduction  of  pupil-teachers  in  England  by  Sir  Jas.  K.  Shuttle- 
worth — and  in  1845  they  extended  it  throughout  the  country.  This 
system  they  gradually  improved  and  enlarged  until  it  became  an 
important  nursery  for  teacherships.  Again,  in  1856,  they  appointed 
a  staff  of  "  Organizers  of  Schools,"  consisting  of  twelve  Masters  and 
three  Mistresses,  all  of  them  persons  of  the  highest  qualifications 
and  wide  experience,  to  travel  about  the  country  and  show  the 
Teachers  how  schools  should  be  conducted  on  the  most  approved 
methods.  Much  was  done  by  these  means  to  maintain  the  standard 
of  education  amongst  the  Koman  Catholic  Teachers. 

In  1866,  the  Commissioners  proposed  measures  to  Mr.  Chichester 
Fortescue,  and  in  1874  to  Sir  Michael  Hicks  Beach,  when  Chief 
Secretaries  for  Ireland,  with  the  object  of  meeting  the  views  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Ecclesiastical  Authorities  ;  but  nothing  definite 
was  accomplished,  owing  to  difficulties  arising  from  the  Protestant 
opposition. 

In  1881,  however,  the  first  step  towards  denominational  training 
was  taken  in  connexion  with  an  application  from  the  Protestant 
Authorities  themselves — the  Synod  of  the  Church  of  Ireland — to 
have  the  Queen's  Scholars  of  the  Marlborough  Street  College,  who 
were  members  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  domiciled  in  their  own 
denominational  institution  in  Kildare  Place,  whilst  receiving  their 
professional  training  and  instruction  in  Marlborough  Street. 

A  very  short  experience  of  this  experiment  led,  in  1883,  to  a 
proposal  by  Lord  Spencer,  then  Lord  Lieutenant,  to  extend  the 
English  System  pure  and  simple  to  Ireland, — a  proposal  which,  with 
the  sanction  of  the  Government,  was  adopted  by  the  Commissioners, 
mutatis  mutandis,  with  a  view  of  securing  certain  privileges  not 
enjoyed  under  the  system  in  England  to  which  the  Roman  Catholic 
authorities  attached  the  greatest  possible  weight.  Of  these  the  main 
points  were,  provisions,  (a)  to  allow  of  the  continued  award  of  the 
Teachers'  Salaries  on  condition  of  their  paying  substitutes  during 
their  residence  in  the  Training  Colleges  ;  and  (6)  to  enable  each  of 
the  Irish  Training  Colleges  to  be  managed  by  an  individual,  instead 
of  by  a  Committee  as  is  the  requirement  in  England. 

The  Commissioners'  College  still  continues ;  but  inasmuch  as  it 
is  wholly  supported  from  the  Public  funds,  and  the  Queen's  Scholars 
are  admitted  free,*  whilst  the  Denominational  Colleges  can  only 
claim  (as  recommended  by  the  Powis'  Commission)  75  per  cent.,  as 
in  England,  of  their  total  certified  expenditure,  a  not  unreasonable 
cry  has  been  raised  by  both  Protestant  and  Catholic  authorities 
either  to  level  up  or  level  down. 

There  are  three  Denominational  Training  Colleges,  two  under  the 
Roman  Catholic,  and  one  under  the  Protestant  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
as  the  Managers,  respectively,  with  a  total  number  of  398  Queen's 
Scholars  in  residence  last  year.  In  the  Marlborough  Street  Mixed 
Training  College  the  number  was  199.  Even  with  these  Colleges, 
tind  their  substantial  muster  of  Students,  it  is  evident  that  many 
years  must  pass  before  the  great  arrears  in  training  represented  by 

*  The  Powis  Commissioners,  however,  recommended  that  a  fixed  payment  from 
private  sources  should  be  required  from  each  scholar. 


;o  STATE    EDUCATION. 

the  7,234  Teachers  still  untrained  out  of  the  total  staff  of  11,087 
will  be  cleared  off.  A  proposal  has  been  made  to  fall  back  upon  the 
original  plan  of  short  courses  of  a  few  months  for  Teachers  advanced 
in  age  who  could  not  be  expected  to  attend  for  a  full  period  of  one 
or  two  years.  The  proposal,  which  under  all  the  circumstances 
appears  to  be  excellent,  awaits  only,  it  is  rumoured,  the  sanction  of 
Government,  as  the  Board  of  National  Education  a  few  years  ago 
expressed  approval  of  it. 


SECTION  8. — School  Books :  Model  and  Agricultural  Schools. 

The  review  of  the  Irish  system  requires  a  reference  to  the  mode 
of  supply  of  books,  &c.,  to  the  schools.  The  Commissioners, 
although  having  only  a  veto  against  the  use  of  improper  books,  and 
having  long  ago  thrown  open  their  copyright,  yet  have  a  virtual 
monopoly  of  the  school  supply,  owing  to  cheapness,  good  quality, 
and  prompt  delivery.  The  demands  are,  in  the  total,  of  course 
enormous,  and  the  Commissioners  have  consequently  opportunity 
of  obtaining  the  books  and  other  requisites  on  the  most  favourable 
terms.  Originally,  suitable  books  were  not  in  existence,  and  the 
Commissioners  were  accordingly  under  the  necessity  of  themselves 
producing  them.  Their  books  soon  gained  such  repute  as  to  be  in 
demand  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  Colonies,  to  which  the  Com- 
missioners sold  annually  large  quantities.  This  practice  awakened 
the  hostility  of  the  London  publishers,  who,  in  1849  and  subse- 
quently, appealed  to  Government  to  restrain  the  Commissioners. 
The  Board's  action  was,  however,  defended  by  Lord  John  Russell, 
then  Prime  Minister.  But  since  that  period  matters  have  changed. 
The  Commissioners'  sales  of  their  own  publications,  and  of  books 
produced  by  private  authors  for  their  purposes,  have  been  restricted 
to  the  National  Schools,  and  are  sold  (carriage  free)  at  cost  price. 
The  receipts  for  their  sales  amount  annually  to  about  dB30,000,  but 
this  is  an  enormous  saving  on  the  ordinary  shop  prices, — a  saving 
which  goes  to  the  benefit  of  the  pupils,  inasmuch  as  Teachers  are 
strictly  prohibited  from  making  any  advance  on  the  prices  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Commissioners'  School  Lists. 

The  Managers  and  Teachers  appear  to  be  alive  to  the  convenience 
of  having  a  Common  Standard  Series  in  respect  to  results  examina- 
tions of  Pupils,  and  annual  examinations  of  Teachers  and  Monitors, 
as  well  as  to  the  migrations  of  children  from  school  to  school,  who, 
under  the  arrangement,  are  saved  the  cost  of  purchasing  new  books 
at  every  change.  It  seems,  on  the  whole,  a  satisfactory  thing  to 
have  a  series  generally  accepted  by  the  School  Managers  as  safe  and 
suitable. 

The  net  cost  of  this  Book  System  to  the  State  is  about  £5,000  a 
year. 

We  have  thus  surveyed  the  main  lines  of  the  history  and  organi- 
zation of  National  Education  in  Ireland.  There  are  collateral  lines 
within  the  scope  of  this  wide  subject  that  are  of  considerable  interest, 
but  too  numerous  to  be  even  briefly  dealt  with,  and  they  do  not 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  71 

demand  any  special  exposition.  Such  for  instance  is  the  history  of 
the  Model  Schools,  under  the  Board's  own  management,  of  which 
we  may  in  passing  observe,  that  having  been  built  at  heavy  cost  to 
the  State,  some  £160,000,  and  been  since  maintained  at  consider- 
able charge  on  the  annual  Estimates,  they  are  now  in  many 
instances  forsaken  by  the  Catholic  Pupils,  the  E.  C.  Hierarchy 
being  opposed  to  schools  under  exclusive  State  management. 

Lord  Powis'  Commission  (1868 — 70)  made  what  seems  a  reason- 
able recommendation,  which,  if  adopted,  would,  no  doubt,  render 
these  schools  acceptable  to  Catholics  as  well  as  to  all  other  denomi- 
nations : — 

"  That  all  existing  Provincial  Model  Schools  which  cannot  be 
carried  on  by  Local  Committees  as  Elementary  Schools  on  the 
present  system,  receiving  only  such  sums  as  may  be  earned  by 
their  scholars  on  examination,  or  may  be  due  to  Teachers,  may  be 
granted  on  lease  to  anybody  applying  for  them  as  Training  Schools, 
on  easy  terms,  such  as  will  provide  for  their  maintenance  and 
repair." 

As  regards  Agricultural  Education  in  Ireland,  we  cannot  do  more, 
with  our  limited  space,  than  state  that  the  Commissioners  have  in 
active  operation  many  schools  in  which  practical  Agriculture  is 
taught,  and  others  in  which  Dairying  is  taught,  seven  or  eight 
hundred  Dairymaids  having  within  the  last  few  years  been  trained 
in  the  industry. 

There  are  also  84,676  pupils  regularly  instructed  in  Agriculture 
from  the  Text  Books,  as  part  of  the  obligatory  course  for  boys  in 
all  rural  National  Schools. 

Neither  is  it  necessary  to  enter  upon  the  examination  of  the 
means  adopted  from  time  to  time  by  the  Commissioners  to  further 
develop  the  industrial  side  of  education,  in  the  schools  generally, 
for  Boys  and  Girls,  the  indications,  as  above,  in  respect  to  the 
existing  provisions  in  the  Commissioners'  Results  Programmes 
being  sufficient  for  our  purpose. 


SECTION  9. — Compulsory  School  Attendance  and  Free  Education. — 

Conclusion. 

But  there  is  a  word  to  be  said,  before  concluding,  in  reference  to 
the  twin  subjects  mooted  for  Ireland, — Compulsory  Attendance, 
and  Free  Education. 

As  to  the  former,  we  would  observe  that  Ireland  being  almost 
wholly  Agricultural,  the  children  are  unavoidably  withdrawn  from 
School  for  a  considerable  interval  each  year  to  help  their  parents  in 
the  fields,  &c.  Taking  these  intervals  in  connexion  with  periods 
of  illness,  wet  weather,  &c.,  we  may  fairly  say  that  for  about 
one-third  of  the  year  the  children  cannot  attend  School.  Judging 
from  the  numbers  on  the  rolls  and  the  average  daily  attendance, 
we  are  disposed  to  conclude  that  there  is  at  present  an  all-round 
attendance  of  about  140  full  days  in  the  year ;  and  this  cannot  be 
regarded  as  unsatisfactory.  Until,  therefore,  some  well-pronounced 


72  STATE    EDUCATION. 

demand  is  heard,  we  can  see  no  possible  result  to  ensue  from  legis- 
lative interference  in  the  matter  of  School  attendance,  except  irrita- 
tion to  parents,  and  additional  unrest  to  the  popular  mind. 

For  the  case  of  factory  children,  there  is  adequate  provision 
under  the  Factory  Acts  ;  and  the  only  other  cases  that  invite  atten- 
tion are  :  (a)  Children  of  beggars  and  vagrants,  perhaps  not  as  yet 
adequately  provided  for  under  the  Industrial  Schools  Acts  and  Poor 
Law  Acts ;  and  (fr)  Youths  who  leave  school  before  completing  the 
full  obligatory  course  prescribed  by  the  Commissioners'  Programme. 
For  the  latter  class  an  extended  application  of  the  principle  of  the 
Factory  Acts  does  seem  desirable  in  the  interests  of  the  youths 
themselves,  and  of  the  country. 

It  is  likely  that  a  movement  to  largely  increase  the  number  and 
efficiency  of  Evening  Schools — as  Continuation  Schools — would 
meet  with  general  approval.  But  legislation  in  this  direction  must 
be  accompanied  by  liberal  provision  towards  the  support  of  the 
Schools,  which  should  not  merely  be  organized  to  promote  the 
literary  education  of  their  pupils,  but  also  to  give  due  opportunities 
for  the  development  of  the  other  side  of  education,  namely  the 
industrial. 

Secondly,  as  to  Free  Education,  we  would  observe  that  if  the 
State  is  to  bear  all  the  cost,  its  direct  guarantees  must  be  increased, 
and  so  far  the  independence  of  managerial  authority  in  Ireland  be 
prejudiced.  Besides,  the  question  does  not  seem  to  arise  from  any 
necessity ;  for  whereas  in  England  half  the  cost  of  popular  educa- 
tion is  borne  by  the  State,  in  Ireland  the  burden  on  the  public 
funds  is  four-fifths.  Practical!}^  this  means  free  education  for  the 
really  poor,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  total  pupils'  fees  for  the 
year  1888 — 89,  ^£108,284,  which  imposes  on  each  pupil  in  average 
daily  attendance  the  trifling  charge  of  Id.  per  week.  We  have 
also  seen  that  the  determination  of  the  rate  of  fee,  or  the  question 
whether  any  fee  shall  be  charged  to  an  individual  child,  rests  entirely 
with  the  Managers,  who,  being  nearly  all  of  them  Clergjonen  resident 
in  the  localities,  can  well  decide  what  is  best  in  each  case. 

In  conclusion,  we  have  to  pay  our  tribute  of  acknowledgment  to 
the  course  pursued  by  the  National  Education  Commissioners  and 
successive  Governments  in  recent  years,  in  harmony  with  the 
maxim  of  Burke — "  Politic  complaisance  within  the  limits  of 
Justice."  We  see  an  earnest  endeavour  to  satisfy,  without  en- 
croaching on  the  reasonable  claims  of  any,  the  sentiments  of  the 
great  majority  of  those  for  whose  use  National  Education  is  esta- 
blished in  Ireland,  in  the  bringing  to  a  close  the  long  and  vexatious 
controversy  on  the  question  of  denominational  training,  in  remedying 
the  grievance  of  wholly  inadequate  pay  under  which  the  Teachers 
of  Convent  Schools — amongst  the  best  taught  schools  in  the 
Country  —  had  lain,  notwithstanding  the  successive  scales  of 
improved  salaries  granted  to  ordinary  School  Teachers,  in  remov- 
ing the  disability  of  members  of  religious  orders  to  teach  National 
Schools,  and  of  Convents  to  have  more  than  one  school  in  con- 
nexion with  the  same  Convent.  Numerous  other  reforms  might  be 
mentioned  that  have  been  effected  in  a  corresponding  direction. 


THE    IRISH    SYSTEM.  73 

Such  a  policy  we  desire  heartily  —  even  from  the  Protestant 
standpoint — to  endorse,  as  tending  to  remove  any  sense  of  un- 
friendliness or  of  inequality  of  treatment  felt  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
community. 

Whilst  we  find  it  hard  now  to  point  to  any  other  substantial 
ground  of  dissatisfaction  in  regard  to  Irish  National  Education,  we 
cannot  withhold  our  opinion  as  to  the  reasonableness — and  also 
the  innocuousness  — of  the  recommendation  of  the  Powis  Commis- 
sion (1868 — 70),  regarding  which  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  have 
within  the  last  few  years  shown  much  anxiety,  and  they  complain 
that  it  should  not  yet  have  been  carried  into  effect.  That  recom- 
mendation is,  that  when  there  have  been  in  operation  in  any  School 
district,  or  within  any  City  or  Town  for  three  years,  two  or  more 
Schools,  of  which  one  is  under  Protestant  and  one  under  Eoman 
Catholic  management,  having  an  average  attendance  of  not  less 
than  twenty-five  children,  the  National  Board  may,  upon  applica- 
tion from  the  Patron  or  Manager,  adopt  any  such  School  without 
requiring  any  regulation  as  to  religion,  except  that  of  the  Conscience 
Clause. 


PART    V. 

THE   ENGLISH   AND   CONTINENTAL   SYSTEMS 
OF   ELEHENTABY   EDUCATION   COMPAEED. 

THE  most  important  and  interesting  points  of  comparison  between 
the  school  systems  of  this  and  of  Continental  countries  relate  to 
religious  teaching ;  school  fees  and  State  or  municipal  support ; 
compulsory  school  attendance ;  physical  exercises ;  technical  in- 
struction ;  and  the  efficiency  of  teachers  ;  in  all  cases  this  refers  to 
primary  schools. 

The  rationalistic  tone,  and  the  general  scepticism  of  the  learned 
classes  in  Germany,  has  led  many  Englishmen  to  conclude  that  the 
German  schools  are  irreligious  and  that  the  teaching  of  religion 
forms  no  element  in  the  national  system  of  education.  This  is  far 
from  heing  the  case,  and  there  is  perhaps  no  country  where  less 
friction  is  to  be  found  between  the  different  religious  denominations 
and  the  State  in  this  particular  connexion. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  religious  teaching  forms  part  of  the  national 
system,*  and  subject  to  conscience  clauses  provision  is  made  by 
school  managers,  who  usually  represent  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish 
or  district  in  which  the  school  is  situated,  for  religious  instruction 
in  conformity  with  the  views  of  the  various  denominations,  Protes- 
tant, Catholic,  &c.  Religious  toleration  must  be  considered  the 
normal  feature  in  the  German  State  system. 

Switzerland  even  in  a  greater  degree  than  Germany  possesses  a 
mixed  population  so  far  as  religion  and  language  are  concerned  ; 
some  cantons  are  almost  exclusively  Catholic,  whilst  in  others 
Protestants  largely  predominate.  In  all,  however,  the  children  of 
each  denomination  are  provided  with  religious  instruction  according 
to  the  wishes  of  their  parents,  sometimes  during  and  at  other  times 
out  of  school  hours,  whilst  a  comparison  of  the  reports  from  the 
different  cantons  shows  that  care  is  taken  that  there  is  no  inter- 
ference with  the  liberty  of  conscience,  and  no  enforced  attendance  at 
religious  exercises.  Those  consist  of  hymns,  prayers,  and  reading 
the  Bible,  generally  without  comment. 

There  is  perhaps  no  country  in  Europe  where  politics  are  so 
much  affected  by  religious  differences  as  in  Belgium,  and  whilst 
until  recently  the  system  of  State  instruction  favoured  by  the 
Liberals  in  power  was  purely  secular  (as  indeed  it  is  nominally  at 

*  Jn  Austria  and  Prussia  it  stands  first  on  the  Time  Tables.  See  Sonnenschein, 
Educational  Codes  of  Foreign  Countries,  pp.  189  et  teq.  London  :  Swan  Sonnenschein, 
1889. 


ENGLISH  &  FOREIGN   SYSTEMS   COMPARED.     75 

present),  and  religious  instruction  was  given  only  out  of  school 
hours,  it  may  be  said  that  under  Conservative  rule  the  greatest 
facilities  are  now  afforded  by  the  subsidies  of  Communes  to 
denominational  education.  In  rural  or  sparsely  populated  districts 
a  certain  number  of  parents  may  claim  to  have  a  school  established 
in  which  their  religion  is  taught,  but  in  the  large  centres  of  industry 
the  schools  continue  to  be  secular  ;  and  as  already  stated,  each 
political  party  is  intent  upon  fostering  its  own  educational  system, 
and  great  acrimony  is  thereby  imparted  to  politics.  The  interference 
of  the  clergy  in  education  is  very  active  in  Belgium. 

In  Italy  also  the  priesthood  claims  to  direct  the  education  of  the 
masses,  but  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  temporal 
rule  have  greatly  restricted  their  influence.  Speaking  generally, 
religious  instruction  is  only  imparted  once  a  week  by  laymen,  and 
only  to  those  children  whose  parents  desire  it.  It  does  not  form 
part  of  the  national  system,  and,  as  in  other  Catholic  countries,  the 
clergy  are  bitterly  opposed  to  education  by  the  State  as  at  present 
regulated. 

The  laws  concerning  primary  education  in  Sweden  and  Norway, 
which  date  back  to  1842  and  1848  respectively  for  the  towns,  are 
very  much  alike  in  essential  principles.  Keligious  instruction  forms 
an  integral  part  of  the  system  in  both  countries.  The  objects  of 
State  education  are  "  true  Christian  instruction  and  such  knowledge 
and  attainments  as  every  member  of  the  State  ought  to  possess." 
The  teaching  of  the  primary  school,  which  begins  and  ends  each 
day  with  prayer  and  the  singing  of  psalms,  may  be  described  as 
leading  up  to  the  "  Confirmation,"  or  the  passing  by  the  parish 
clergyman  into  the  right  to  partake  of  the  sacrament,  and  with  it 
into  responsible  life.  The  clergyman  plays  a  prominent  part  in  the 
system,  but  religion  is  generally  taught  by  the  schoolmaster  accord- 
ing to  a  recognised  book  of  instructions.  In  addition  to  the  religious 
instruction  which  they  receive  in  school,  all  children  above  twelve 
are  bound  by  law  until  two  years  after  confirmation  to  appear  in 
church  at  the  public  catechisms,  which  are  conducted  by  the  clergy- 
man, and  are  held  several  times  during  the  year.  From  the  lowest 
classes  in  the  elementary  schools  up  to  the  highest  several  hours 
weekly  are  devoted  to  catechism,  Bible  history,  &c.,  and  the  system 
is  therefore  unmistakably  denominational.  These  remarks  apply  to 
those  professing  the  State  religion,  but  there  is  provision  for  the 
establishment  of  schools  for  dissenters  under  the  supervision  of  the 
School  Boards  (one  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  every  ecclesiastical 
parish),  which  see  that  the  Standards  are  complied  with. 

In  Denmark  religious  instruction  is  also  part  of  the  curriculum, 
but  only  for  children  whose  parents  are  members  of  the  State 
(Lutheran)  Church. 

In  France  the  struggle  for  priestly  ascendancy  has  exercised  greater 
influence  over  State  instruction  than  in  any  other  European  country, 
and  entirely  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Clergy.  The  department  of 
education  professes  complete  neutrality  towards  the  religious  de- 
nominations, but  it  is  by  exclusion  and  not  by  the  concurrent 
endowment  of  education.  Hence  the  State  system,  which  is  purely 


76  STATE   EDUCATION. 

secular,  is  usually  designated  "  Godless  education,"  and  it  is  no 
doubt  one  of  the  results  of  the  reaction  against  priestly  interference 
in  other  than  religious  affairs.  No  priest  as  such  is  permitted  to 
take  any  part  in  the  management  of  the  public  Elementary  Schools, 
in  some  of  which  the  name  of  the  Deity  is  never  mentioned.  In- 
struction in  morals  is,  however,  an  important  feature  in  the  educa- 
tional course  in  all  public  Elementary  Schools. 

The  supervision  of  the  State  over  elementary  instruction  in 
England  is  secular  onl}r,  and  the  Department  does  not  profess 
to  extend  any  support  to  religious  or  denominational  teaching. 
Certain  hours  are  set  apart  for  secular  teaching,  during  which 
time  no  instruction  is  given  in  any  religious  subject  or  book,  and 
those  are  the  only  school  hours  to  which  the  State  pays  attention. 
Moreover,  where  religion  is  taught,  or  where  there  are  any  kinds 
of  religious  exercises,  children  are  not  compelled  to  be  present,  and 
parents  may  ignore  them  without  detriment  to  their  children's 
secular  education. 

In  practice,  however,  a  widespread  religious  system  of  instruction 
obtains  in  Board  as  well  as  in  denominational  Schools.  One  may 
go  into  a  Church  of  England  School  and  then  into  a  Board  School, 
and  find  in  both  the  same  book  in  use  treating  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament ;  the  same  hymns ;  the  same  Trinitarian  form  of  prayer ; 
the  only  difference  being  the  teaching  of  the  Catechism  in  the  Church 
School.  It  is  true  that  in  an  infinite simally  small  number  of  schools 
religious  teaching  is  excluded ;  in  a  few  others  the  Bible  is  read 
without  comment ;  but  in  by  far  the  largest  number,  religion  is 
taught  either  before  or  after  lessons,  or  both. 

Besides  the  general  religious  teaching  in  Board  and  denomina- 
tional Schools,  there  is  the  strictly  sectarian  instruction  in  the 
latter.  In  the  Church  of  England  Schools  the  system  is  less  uni- 
form and  rigid  than  in  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  just  as  in 
the  former  the  religious  system  generally  is  less  completely  con- 
trolled by  a  central  authority.  In  practice  the  Bishops  and  Clergy 
in  both  cases  "  set  "  the  religious  course.  In  a  typical  rural  school 
of  the  Church  of  England,  in  Standards  V.,  VI.,  and  VII.,  the 
following  is  the  course  of  religious  instruction  for  a  certain  year  : 
"The  Second  Book  of  Samuel;  St.  Mark's  Gospel;  Morning 
Prayer  to  the  end  of  the  '  Te  Deum  ' ;  the  whole  text  of  the  Church 
Catechism,  with  explanation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Desire  ; 
four  collects  to  be  learned  and  understood  ;  four  hymns."  The 
Scriptures  are  read  from  9  to  9.45  A.M.  Pressure  is  frequently 
brought  to  bear  upon  children  in  order  to  "  induce  "  them  to  attend 
religious  exercises,  where  any  such  action  is  at  all  needed.  It  varies 
according  to  the  character  of  the  clergy  or  school  managers  in  diffe- 
rent districts.  In  the  school  of  which  the  religious  course  is  given 
above,  "  objections  of  parents  to  religious  instruction  are  fully  re- 
spected." This  is,  however,  far  from  being  the  case  everywhere, 
and  a  volume  might  be  written  on  the  subject.  In  a  typical  Roman 
Catholic  School  the  following  is  the  course  of  religious  instruction  : 
"  Infants:  Instruction  on  God;  Our  Lord;  the  B.  Virgin;  St.  Joseph; 
Guardian  Angels  ;  Death  ;  Judgment ;  Hell ;  Heaven."  Standards 


ENGLISH  6-  FOREIGN  SYSTEMS   COMPARED.     77 

I.  to  V. :    Catechism ;   Prayers ;    Instruction  on  Sin,  &c. ;    Sacred 
History. 

The  reason  for  entering  with  some  minuteness  into  the  religious 
aspect  of  education  is  because  it  is  the  stumbling-block  in  the  way 
of  most  of  the  changes  that  are  proposed  in  the  national  system. 
How  will  it  affect  denominational  teaching  ?  Who  are  the  men  that 
propose  the  change  ?  Have  they  any  ulterior  motive  ?  All  other 
considerations  would  be  more  easily  disposed  of  by  the  lay  authori- 
ties, if  the  religious  grounds  of  action  or  inaction  were  less  promi- 
nent. In  the  present  controversy  on  free  or  gratuitous  education,  for 
example,  Catholics  will  tell  you  that  they  could  not  for  a  moment 
support  any  change  in  the  system  which  would  remove  the  manage- 
ment of  their  schools  from  the  present  superiors  to  the  ratepayers. 
"  What  is  to  prevent  an  Orangeman  from  being  foisted  upon  our 
committee,"  they  say,  "  who  would  at  once  begin  to  interfere  with 
our  religious  instruction  ?  "  And  Churchmen  in  like  manner  fear 
the  intrusion  of  dissenters  and  even  of  secularists. 

Turning  to  the  question  of  compulsion,  it  may  be  stated  that  in 
Germany  the  attendance  is  compulsory,  and  neglect  may  even  be 
punished  by  fine  or  imprisonment  in  most  States  ;  but  this  is  rarely 
needed,  as  the  desire  for  education  is  universal.  Like  many  other 
"  paternal "  customs  in  Germany,  the  method  of  enforcing  attendance  at 
school  is  sometimes  very  unceremonious,  and  a  writer  on  the  German 
system  of  education  tells  us  that  in  some  places  "  the  school  autho- 
rities are  empowered  to  send  a  policeman  to  the  home  of  the  child 
and  have  him  taken  to  school  by  the  collar."  This  method,  he  says, 
is  very  salutary,  as  it  creates  a  great  sensation  in  the  school,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  serious  disgrace.*  From  statistics  collected  by  the 
same  writer  the  necessity  for  imprisoning  parents  is  diminishing,  for 
whilst  in  the  year  1881  in  Konigsberg  173  persons  were  fined  and 
15  committed  to  prison,  the  numbers  in  1885  had  fallen  to  141  fined 
and  2  imprisoned.  In  Sweden  and  Norway  the  attendance  of  chil- 
dren is  compulsory  from  seven  or  nine,  as  the  School  Board  may 
decide,  up  to  "  confirmation,"  or  until  the  final  standard  is  passed. 
The  means  of  compulsion  are  reminders,  fines,  and  in  case  of  gross 
neglect  on  the  part  of  the  parents,  removal  of  a  child  from  its  home 
to  a  home  approved  by  the  Board,  or  in  extreme  cases  to  a  reforma- 
tory. The  Boards  fix  the  minimum  attendances,  both  as  to  days 
per  week  and  school  hours.  In  many  large  sparsely-peopled  parishes 
the  schools  are  held  in  one  place  after  another,  so  as  to  make  attend- 
ance possible  ;  and  where  no  school-house  exists  ratepayers  have  to 
provide  accommodation  in  their  houses.  In  fact  the  difficulties 
which  impede  education,  in  Norway  especially,  greatly  resemble 
those  which  attend  religious  ministrations.  Any  one  who  has  sailed 
along  the  coast  of  Norway  knows  how  the  clergyman  has  to  travel 
from  one  place  to  another  at  intervals  to  administer  the  rites  of 
matrimony,  baptism,  confirmation,  &c.,  and  how  irregular  are  the 
services  of  religion  over  which  he  is  able  to  preside.  This  naturally 


*  Perry.     Reports  on  German  Elementary  Schools,  p.  12,  where  cases  are  given. 
(Rivingtons,  1887,) 


7  8  STATE    EDUCATION. 

renders  the  necessity  for  religious  instruction  by  laymen  exception- 
ally requisite.  In  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  attendance  is  also 
obligatory,  but  in  the  last-named  country  there  is  not  sufficient 
school  accommodation,  and  so  far  as  we  are  aware  the  law  is  nowhere 
enforced.  In  Belgium  attendance  is  not  compulsory,  and  education 
is  by  no  means  universal :  uninstructed  children  follow  handicrafts 
in  considerable  numbers.  In  Great  Britain  a  remarkable  system 
prevails,  and  its  most  conspicuous  defects  are  prominent  in  our  large 
towns.  All  children  between  five  and  thirteen  ought  by  law  to 
attend  school ;  if  the  parents  are  too  poor  to  pay  school  fees  they 
may  apply  to  the  guardians  of  the  poor,  whose  duty  it  is,  after 
inquiry,  to  supply  the  necessary  means.  In  some  places  the  parents 
have  to  walk  long  distances  to  the  office  of  the  overseers,  and  cases 
are  known  where  the  relieving  officer  treats  them  as  paupers,  and 
even  uses  language  of  a  kind  to  deter  sensitive  parents  from  making 
the  application.  A  respectable  parent  who  cannot  pay  the  school 
fees  is  liable  to  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  some  are  so  imprisoned 
for  a  debt  of  a  few  pence,  whilst  unscrupulous  traders  who  succeed 
in  obtaining  credit  for  thousands  of  pounds,  and  fail  to  meet  their 
obligations,  may  seek  relief  in  the  Insolvency  Court. 

Notwithstanding  compulsor}^  legislation,  and  the  severe  penalties 
which  are  attached  to  it,  the  streets  of  our  large  towns  swarm  with 
children  of  school  age  selling  matches,  newspapers,  &c. ;  and  in 
spite  of  the  Act  recently  passed  for  the  protection  of  young  children, 
many  are  sent  out  in  their  earliest  infancy  to  beg,  and  sometimes, 
in  order  to  excite  sympathy,  almost  every  rag  of  clothing  is  withheld 
from  them,  even  in  the  severest  weather.  These  are  chiefly  the  off- 
spring of  dissolute  parents  or  of  the  criminal  classes,  who  would 
willingly  part  with  their  children  and  hand  them  over  to  tlie  State 
for  education  and  maintenance  if  it  did  not  pay  them  better  to  retain 
their  services  in  the  infamous  manner  just  described.  It  is  this 
state  of  things  that  the  ragged  and  industrial  school  system  is 
intended  to  obviate,  but  with  which  it  fails  to  cope  effectively. 

In  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  primary  instruction  is  quite 
gratuitous ;  in  Germany  (as  in  England)  school  fees  are  allowed  to 
be  charged  where  the  parents  can  afford  to  pay  them,  but  exemptions 
are  easily  obtained  when  they  are  unable  to  do  so  :  in  all  cases  the 
fees  are  nominal,  and  in  most  of  the  large  cities  and  towns  elementary 
education  is  gratuitous  to  all.  In  Belgium  the  practice  varies  in 
different  communes,  but  in  every  case  declared  poverty  suffices  to 
secure  gratuitous  instruction. 

In  Sweden  and  Norway,  all  State  instruction,  both  in  primary 
and  secondary  schools,  is  gratuitous,  and  parents  whose  circum- 
stances are  such  as  not  to  admit  of  their  sending  their  children  to 
school  without  injury,  can  obtain  a  grant  from  the  poor-rates  as  a 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  their  services. 

In  Denmark,  where  school  attendance  is  compulsory  up  to  the 
fourteenth  year,  it  is  gratuitous  in  the  country  schools,  and  there 
is  a  number  of  free  schools  in  Copenhagen  also,  but  there  the 
majority  of  poor  parents  take  a  pride  in  sending  their  children  to 
the  so-called  "pay-schools,"  where  the  fees  are  one  krone  (about 


ENGLISH  &  FOREIGN  SYSTEMS   COMPARED.    79 

Is.  2d.)  per  month,  and  there  are  also  State-schools  called  citizen- 
schools  where  the  fees  are  3  to  5  kroner  monthly.  In  Denmark, 
although  parents  neglecting  the  education  of  their  children  are 
liable  to  fines,  they  would  as  soon  think  of  starving  them  as  of 
keeping  them  away  from  school. 

In  Scotland  primary  instruction  has  recently  become  gratuitous  in 
the  lower  standards,  a  portion  of  the  grant  from  the  State  in  aid  of 
local  taxation  having  been  appropriated  to  that  object.  In  England 
at  the  time  of  writing  these  lines  an  active  agitation  is  proceeding  to 
secure  a  similar  privilege  for  children  in  our  primary  schools,  and 
some  concession  may  be  expected  to  be  made  during  one  of  the 
coming  sessions  of  this  Parliament.  Until  recently  disinterested 
and  liberal-minded  educationists,  such  as  the  late  Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold,  disapproved  of  gratuitous  education  being  given,  excepting 
in  cases  of  extreme  poverty.  It  was  considered  by  many  conscientious 
men  that  the  State  is  no  more  called  upon  to  give  instruction  free 
than  to  give  bread  or  clothing  gratis,  and  that  to  do  so  would 
dimmish  the  sense  of  responsibility  in  parents.  At  present  most  of 
the  members  of  the  various  denominations  are  agreed  that  gratuitous 
primary  instruction  (or  "  Free  Schools  "  as  they  are  called)  is  desir- 
able, but  the  chief  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment  are, 
1,  the  widespread  feeling  that  where  the  State  provides  the  funds 
there  should  be  popular  local  control ;  and  2,  that  difficulties  would 
arise  in  the  method  of  appropriation.  As  it  has  been  already  stated 
in  speaking  of  religious  instruction,  the  first  is  the  real  difficulty. 
The  State  already  makes  grants  in  aid  to  denominational  schools, 
without  attempting  to  interfere  with  religious  teaching,  and  if  it  be 
deemed  necessary  that  local  control  should  be  extended  along  with 
increased  State  aid,  that  should  be  confined  to  the  expenditure  of 
public  money  for  secular  teaching,  and  there  would  not  be  much 
difficulty  in  securing  the  legitimate  appropriation  of  State  grants. 

As  to  the  question  of  apportionment,  that  is  a  matter  of  detail 
which  would  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  settlement  of  the  question 
if  the  religious  difficulty  could  be  overcome.  The  object  of  these 
remarks  is  not  to  decide  a  controversy,  but  simply  to  state  facts  and 
to  compare  systems,  and  the  fact  that  gratuitous  education  already 
exists  in  some  countries  where  religious  feelings  and  prejudices  are 
much  more  pronounced  than  in  England  speaks  for  itself. 

One  of  the  chief  defects  in  English  primary  instruction  is  the 
Almost  entire  absence  of  physical  training,  to  which,  however,  the 
Board  Schools  in  Manchester,  and  some  of  those  in  other  large 
towns,  are  an  exception.  In  Germany,  France,  and  Switzerland, 
gymnastics  and  drill  are  conspicuous  features  in  the  training  of 
children.  No  doubt  this  arises  largely  from  the  necessity  for  keep- 
ing up  a  constant  supply  of  soldiers.  In  Belgium  also  great  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  physical  exercises. 

That  physical  training  is  neglected  in  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  is  no  doubt  due  mainly  to  their  not  being  military 
nations,  but  all  the  same  it  is  a  great  disadvantage  in  a  pacific  sense, 
for  the  constant  strain  upon  the  minds  of  children,  and  the  increas- 
ing area  of  instruction,  renders  a  regular  system  of  physical  training 


8o  STATE    EDUCATION. 

an  urgent  necessity.  In  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  elementary 
schools  there  is  absolutely  no  physical  exercise  besides  the  few 
minutes  of  play  in  the  playground,  snatched  from  or  during  the 
regular  course  of  instruction.  In  many  there  is  musical  drill  for 
the  infants  only ;  whilst  in  some  of  the  Board  Schools  an  hour  per 
week  is  devoted  to  drill  and  exercise  with  small  wooden  or  iron 
dumb-bells  or  clubs  ;  but  it  must  be  apparent  to  the  most  superficial 
observer  that  sooner  or  later  veiy  evil  results  must  follow  from  the 
present  system  of  constant  mental  exertion  without  corresponding 
physical  exercise  for  young  and  growing  frames. 

In  France  manual  technical  instruction  is  given  in  primary 
schools.  Such  instruction  consists  of  drawing,  cutting  objects  in 
cardboard,  modelling,  tool-making,  wood-carving,  &c.,  not  only  in 
day  but  in  evening  schools,  and  the  various  occupations  are  adapted 
to  the  different  grades.  Germany  is  provided  with  trade  schools, 
and  although  workshops  are  not  yet  introduced  into  primary 
schools,  drawing  is  taught,  and  there  are  apprenticeship  schools  in 
several  German  States.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  Switzerland 
and  Belgium. 

There  has  long  been  an  outcry  in  this  country  against  the  educa- 
tional authorities  for  neglecting  to  foster  what  has  been  called 
"  Technical  Education,"  but  what  was  really  intended  to  mean 
trade  instruction,  in  which  Continental  nations  are  said  to  have  left 
us  in  the  background,  and  until  the  last  session  of  Parliament  no 
measure  was  passed  for  giving  technical  instruction  in  primary 
schools.  Drawing  has,  however,  long  been  taught  in  such  schools, 
and  although  the  system  of  science  instruction,  embracing  theoretical 
and  even  practical  training  in  many  trades  and  professions,  has  not 
been  associated  with  the  curriculum  of  the  primary  schools,  it  has 
been  provided  to  an  extent  far  beyond  anything  that  exists  else- 
where for  young  persons  and  adults  ;  and  when,  some  years  since, 
one  of  the  writers  of  this  article  visited  the  United  States,  he 
was  asked  to  read  a  paper,  before  the  American  Association  for  the 
Promotion  of  Science,  on  the  "  South  Kensington  System,"  as  it 
was  called,  for  the  information  of  those  who  were  desirous  of  foster- 
ing scientific  education  in  America.  Though  an  Act  was  passed  for 
Scotland  in  the  present  year,  even  now  technical  instruction  can 
only  be  given  there  in  elementary  schools  to  children  who  have 
passed  the  Fifth  Standard. 

It  may  be  said  in  general  terms  that  in  Germany  primary  educa- 
tion is  admirably  conducted,  bears  excellent  results,  and  is  imparted 
by  teachers  who  are  thoroughly  qualified  for  their  duties.  There 
are  State  normal  schools,  but  they  are  only  free  to  poor  students  ; 
there  are  no  pupil  teachers ;  and  generally  speaking  qualified  teachers 
are  badly  remunerated.  In  France  the  same  may  be  said  of  primary 
education  as  in  Germany :  there  are  many  normal  (State)  schools  in 
which  instruction  is  gratuitous  and  of  a  high  order  ;  but  as  in  Ger- 
many, teachers  are  in  general  badly  paid.  Even  in  Paris,  where  the 
paj-ment  has  been  nearly  doubled,  it  is  still  much  below  our  scale. 
Almost  identical  remarks  apply  to  Switzerland,  where  the  head 
schoolmasters  take  part  in  the  public  inspection  of  schools,  sitting 


J 


ENGLISH  &  FOREIGN  SYSTEMS   COMPARED.    81 

at  the  same  tables  with  the  Government  or  Cantonal  Board.  In 
Belgium  there  are  many  normal  schools  supported  by  the  State,  as 
also  in  Italy,  where  training  of  teachers  is  gratuitous  ;  and  the  same 
remark  applies  to  Sweden  and  Norway,  where  the  expenses  of  all 
the  normal  schools  are  defrayed  by  the  State.  In  this  country  the 
training  schools  have  been  founded  and  are  managed  by  the  various 
denominations,  and  they  are  liberally  aided  by  the  State.  Accord- 
ing to  reports  of  the  Education  Department  contributed  by  H.  E. 
Oakley,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  J.  Gr.  Fitch,*  these  institutions  are  fairly  well 
conducted,  and  as  far  as  they  meet  the  requirements  of  the  country 
little  fault  is  to  be  found  with  them  ;  but  the  returns  for  1888  show 
that  there  are  only  forty-four  such  institutions  in  England  and 
Wales,  giving  instruction  to  3,277  students,  whilst  the  number 
applying  for  admission  far  exceeds  the  annual  vacancies.  It  is  said 
that  the  supply  of  certificated  teachers  is  equal  to  the  demand  owing 
to  the  employment  of  pupil  teachers,  a  system  which  has  either 
never  existed  or  has  ceased  to  exist  in  other  countries. 

In  this  hasty  and  necessarily  superficial  sketch  we  have  not 
attempted  to  adduce  all  the  evidence  that  is  available  to  substantiate 
the  opinions  and  support  the  conclusions  at  which  we  have  arrived 
through  a  somewhat  intimate  acquaintance  with  primary  education 
both  at  home  and  abroad ;  indeed  we  presume  that  some  of  the 
subjects  which  have  been  dismissed  by  us  with  a  few  passing  words 
of  comment  will  be  treated  in  detail  by  writers  who  have  made  them 
a  special  study.  We  believe,  however,  that  we  shall  have  the  con- 
currence of  most  persons  who  understand  the  question  when  we  say 
that  owing  to  two  main  causes,  first,  the  removal  of  children  from 
school  at  an  immature  age,  and  secondly,  the  extensive  employment 
of  pupil  teachers  and  others  inefficiently  trained,  elementary  educa- 
tion has  not  reached  the  same  high  level  in  England  as  it  has 
attained  in  several  other  European  States. 

*  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode.     "  Training  Colleges."    1889. 


VOL.    I. 


PART   VI. 

WESTEKN  STATE  EDUCATION. 


THE    UNITED    STATES'    AND    ENGLISH    SYSTEMS 

COMPARED. 

1.  Primary  and  Grammar  Schools. 

IT  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  grasp  the  philosophy  of  a  foreign 
educational  system.  Education  is  not  an  art,  like  the  art  of  swim- 
ming for  instance,  where,  though  the  methods  of  teaching  and 
practice  may  vary  considerably,  yet  the  purpose  which  the  art  seeks 
to  achieve,  viz.,  how  to  propel  the  body  along  the  surface  of  water 
without  getting  the  head  underneath,  is,  all  the  world  over,  the  same. 
On  the  contrary,  the  purpose  of  a  national  system  of  education  will 
differ  very  materially  in  different  countries.  Education  is  the 
organized  and  scientific  initiation  of  the  young  into  the  duties  of 
civilised  life.  Each  different  ideal  of  civilisation  will,  therefore, 
produce  its  own  peculiar  ideal  of  education. 

Now  there  are  undoubtedly  strong  differences  between  American 
and  English  ideals.  Let  us  cite  one  conspicuous  instance  of  such 
difference.  The  American  people  (by  which  here  and  elsewhere  is 
meant  the  people  of  the  United  States)  have  always  been  their  own 
law-makers,  and  so,  from  the  earliest  period  of  their  national  his- 
tory, they  have  placed  in  the  forefront,  as  their  object  in  founding  a 
public  system  of  education,  that  of  training  up  law-making,  as  well 
as  law-abiding,  citizens.  But  this  object  was  certainly  not  the 
guiding  principle  of  those  who  initiated  and  developed  popular 
education  in  England.  The  voluntary  and  denominational  move- 
ment of  the  early  part  of  this  century  had  confessedly  no  other 
than  religious  and  philanthropic  aims  on  behalf  of  the  poorer 
classes ;  and  as  time  went  on  it  received  recognition  and  support 
from  the  State  almost  entirely  on  these  grounds.  And,  although 
our  first  really  national  movement  on  behalf  of  education,  in  the 
year  1870,  received  a  great  impulse  from  the  middle  and  upper-class 
consciousness  of  the  danger  of  leaving  "  our  masters  "  in  ignorance 
of  their  letters,  yet  the  arrest  of  that  movement  at  its  present  in- 
complete stage  shows  that  we  still  realise  only  imperfectly  that  other 
ideal  of  education  as  a  course  of  training  for  the  law-makers  of 
England.  The  English  ideal  in  the  past  has  not  been  that  of  an 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  83 

American  State  which  sets  up  as  a  fundamental  axiom: — "Since 
the  efficient  government  of  the  State  requires  the  harmonious  co- 
operation of  the  masses,  it  is  a  condition  for  the  welfare  of  the  State 
to  provide  schools  in  which  the  children  of  the  people  grow  up 
together  without  class  or  sect  distinction,  so  that  a  more  homo- 
geneous population  may  make  the  action  of  the  Government  har- 
monious and  energetic."  * 

Again,  neither  is  it  an  easy  matter  to  master  the  details  of 
a  foreign  educational  system.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
"American  Common  School  system."  And  the  reason  is  not  far  to 
seek — in  one  sense,  there  is  no  American  Common  School  system. 
So  difficult  is  it  for  an  Englishman,  with  his  Education  Department 
administering  the  Education  Acts,  issuing  its  annual  code  of 
regulations,  and  thus  virtually  determining  for  all  public  ele- 
mentary schools  the  duties  of  managers,  the  qualifications  of 
teachers,  and  the  course  of  instruction,  to  realise  "  local  option  "  as 
the  fundamental  principle  of  a  public  school  system,  that  it  becomes 
necessary  to  emphasise  this  fact  at  starting.  There  is  no  American 
Education  Department,  no  American  Minister  of  Education.  The 
Commissioner  of  Education  at  the  head  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington  is  rather  a  Registrar- General 
for  education  than  a  Minister  of  State — a  sort  of  statistical  head 
centre  who  has  no  more  control  over  educational  bodies  than  the 
Registrar- General  in  England  has  over  the  births,  deaths,  and  mar- 
riages of  human  bodies  which  he  records  and  tabulates.  In  fact 
the  functions  of  the  United  States  Government  in  the  matter  of 
educational  legislation  are  of  the  narrowest  kind.  Apart  from  the 
scientific  military  training  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  which  is  entirely 
in  its  hands,  it  limits  itself  to  making  endowments  in  the  shape  of 
land-grants  to  the  several  States  for  the  purposes  of  common  school 
education  or  for  the  promotion  of  scientific  agriculture  and  the 
mechanical  arts.  It  has  also  furnished  endowments  for  the  support 
of  Universities  in  all  new  States  formed  since  1787.  The  duty  and 
responsibility  of  making  provision  for  the  education  of  its  population 
rests  with  the  several  States  individually ;  and  each  State  has,  of 
its  own  proper  motion,  though  some  in  the  South  only  tardily,  come 
to  recognise  this  duty  by  establishing  a  common  school  system  in 
its  midst.  And  this  system  differs,  or  may  differ,  from  the  cor- 
responding system  of  other  States. 

First,  this  individuality  is  shown  in  the  different  modes  of  elec- 
tion, the  widely  varied  composition  and  functions  of  the  several 
State  Boards  of  Education.  In  some  States  the  Boards  are  com- 
posed mostly  of  professional  teachers,  in  others,  chiefly  of  State 
officers.  Then,  in  some  States,  the  State  Superintendent  (i.e., 
Inspector,  though  not  with  analogous  functions  to  Her  Majesty's 
Inspectors  of  Schools)  is  elected  directly  by  the  people,  in  others  by 
the  Governor,  in  others,  again,  by  the  Legislature,  in  others  by  the 
State  Board  of  Education  itself;  and  his  duties,  powers,  and 
prerogatives  are  equalty  diverse. 

*  National  Council  of  Education,  Proceedings,  1887. 
G   2 


84  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Again,  some  States  enforce  compulsory  school  attendance,  others 
do  not ;  and  where  compulsion  is  carried  out,  the  "  bye-laws  "  (as 
we  should  call  them)  regulating  the  ages  between  which  they  are 
enforced,  the  minimum  number  of  attendances  required,  the  penalties 
for  their  breach,  and  the  conditions  of  exemption,  vary  with  each 
State. 

The  principle  of  local  self-government  which  underlies  the  social 
and  political  constitution  of  the  United  States  asserts  itself  still 
further  by  each  State  assigning  to  the  municipalities  of  cities  and 
townships  within  its  borders  the  power  to  elect  their  own  School 
Committees  or  School  Boards,  only  retaining  the  right  of  prescribing 
their  organization,  officers,  and  general  powers.  These  City  Boards 
have  also  been  organized  on  every  variety  of  plan.  The  New  York 
Board  is  elected  by  the  Mayor.  In  Philadelphia  the  Board  is 
elected  by  the  Judges,  who  are  themselves  elected  by  popular  vote, 
and  the  Board  is  associated  in  its  task  of  school  management  with 
certain  "school  directors,"  who  are  elected  by  the  people,  three  for 
each  ward  in  the  city.  In  Cincinnati  the  Board  is  elected  partly  by 
the  people  in  wards  and  partly  on  a  "general  ticket;  "  and  so  on. 
These  City  School  Boards  have  power  (subject  to  the  State  educa- 
tional laws)  to  constitute  school  districts,  elect  school  officers,  collect 
taxes  for  school  purposes,  and  arrange  for  the  examination,  appoint- 
ment and  rate  of  pay  of  teachers,  to  build  schools,  arrange  courses 
of  study,  prescribe  the  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  schools, 
and  to  administer  these  schools.  Hence  there  are  further  oppor- 
tunities for  diversity  in  educational  machinery  and  policy  owing  to 
the  individual  local  circumstances,  the  ever-varying  political  and 
social  temper  of  each  city  and  town.  And  it  should  further  be 
borne  in  mind  that  America  is  far  less  homogeneous  in  itself 
than  England.  Over  that  wide  area,  varieties  of  race  and  tradition, 
of  climate  and  environment,  have  impressed  even  upon  individual 
cities,  marked  divergencies  from  a  uniform  ethical,  social  and  poli- 
tical standard.  Boston  is  not  as  New  Orleans,  nor  Eichmond  as 
San  Francisco. 

But,  amidst  all  this  diversity  of  ideal  and  theory,  of  detail  and 
practice,  there  is  an  underlying  unity,  an  undercurrent  of  common 
sentiment  in  educational  matters  which  is  strong  enough  to  set  the 
course  of  the  stream  very  much  in  the  same  direction  all  over  the 
United  States,  in  obedience  to  the  "  genius "  of  their  national 
institutions.  The  Common  School  is  universal;  it  is  open  to  all 
classes ;  it  is  free  ;  and  it  is  either  unsectarian  or  secular,  i.e., 
neutral,  in  religious  matters.  Let  us  glance  at  these  points  in 
order. 

First,  the  Common  School  is  to  be  found  everywhere,  in  the 
remotest  farming  town  where  scarcely  20  children  of  school  age 
can  be  counted  within  a  radius  of  two  or  three  miles,  no  less  than 
in  the  large  cities.*  And  every  Common  School  is  under  the 


*  In  America,  a  town  (old  English  townsldp)  corresponds  to  the  English  village  or 
group  of  villages  forming  a  rural  area ;  and  a  city,  to  the  English  municipal  town, 
forming  an  urban  area. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  85 

control  and  management  of  a  local  board,  variously  designated  in 
different  parts  of  the  United  States,  but  everywhere  practically  what, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  local  representative  control,  we  in  England 
would  call  a  School  Board.  The  School  Board  is,  therefore,  universal. 
Its  foundation  rests  on  the  idea  that  every  locality  is  competent  to 
manage  its  own  educational  affairs.  But  this  only  within  limits. 
Each  State  has  its  own  State  Law,  which  is  administered  by  the 
State  Board  of  Education.  The  State  lays  down  by  law  that 
Common  Schools  of  a  certain  grade  and  range  of  study  shall  exist 
within  a  given  area,  that  the  schools  shall  be  open  for  a  minimum 
number  of  days,  and  (where  it  has  adopted  the  principle  of  com- 
pulsion) fixes  the  requirements  as  to  school  attendance,  and  the 
penalties  for  truancy.  The  function  of  the  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion is  to  obtain  and  publish  the  returns  required  by  law  from  the 
School  Boards,  and  to  apportion  the  State  Fund  (where  such  exists) 
arising  from  grants  of  land,  bequests  or  endowments.  But  the 
State  Board  has  no  legal  control  over  the  management  of  the  schools, 
and  can  exercise  no  authority  with  reference  to  local  taxation,  the 
erection  of  school  buildings,  the  appointment  of  teachers,  or  the 
organization,  discipline  and  course  of  study  in  the  schools.  These 
matters  are  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  local  School  Boards.  The 
State  Board  does,  however,  exercise  considerable  influence  in  the 
form  of  "  moral  suasion  "  beyond  the  limits  of  its  legal  powers,  by 
the  acquiescence  and  good-will  of  the  School  Boards.  It  exercises 
this  function  more  especially  among  the  rural  School  Boards. 
Practically  it  leaves  the  city  School  Boards  alone  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  schools;  for  experience  has  shown  that  the  public 
spirit  of  a  city  community  is  an  ample  guarantee,  in  spite  of 
occasional  abuse  of  the  position  by  struggling  politicians,  for  the 
presence  of  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  administrators  upon 
.  the  School  Board,  and  for  the  efficiency,  energy,  and  enterprise  of 
its  working. 

In  the  rural  parts  of  the  States,  however,  it  is  frequently  far 
otherwise.  The  only  available  members  of  the  Board  are  farmers  ; 
they  live  two  or  three  miles  from  each  other,  and  from  the  school ; 
they  do  not  profess  to  be  qualified  for  the  work,  and  only  serve  on 
the  School  Board  because  "  somebody  must."  A  School  Board  so 
composed  will  not  only  frankly  recognise  its  inefficiency,  but  will 
court  the  assistance  and  guidance  which  the  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion is  prepared  most  freely  to  render.  For  the  discharge  of  these 
functions  towards  the  rural  Board  the  State  Board  employs 
Superintendents  or  Agents  whose  duty  it  is  to  collect  and  diffuse 
information  as  to  the  condition  of  the  schools,  to  inspect  and 
examine  when  invited,  to  point  out  weaknesses,  and  to  make 
suggestions  for  improvement.  But  beyond  this  they  are  careful 
not  to  go. 

Now  contrast  this  with  the  English  system ;  and,  for  this  purpose, 
for  "  State  Law  "  read  "Education  Acts  of  Parliament,"  for  "  State 
Board  of  Education "  read  "  Education  Department,"  and  for 
"  State  Fund  "  read  "  Parliamentary  Grant."  Further,  for  "  School 
Board,"  we  must  read  "  Managers  of  a  Public  Elementary  School," 


86  STATE    EDUCATION. 

for  the  English  law  recognizes  equally  as  "  Managers "  either 
School  Boards,  or  a  body  (of  three  persons  at  least),  representing  a 
voluntary  or  denominational  agency.  The  analogy  thus  suggested 
between  the  English  and  American  systems  holds  good  very  fairly, 
but  the  following  points  of  differentiation  will  at  once  strike  the 
observer.  In  both  countries,  the  education  of  the  people  is  regulated 
by  a  central  law.  But  the  strength  of  a  law  depends  upon  the 
degree  to  which  it  can  be  enforced,  and  with  regard  to  education, 
the  leverage  which  in  both  countries  makes  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
law  is  mainly  the  money  grant  which  the  administrators  have  at 
their  disposal.  That  money  is  the  "  State  Fund  "  in  one  case,  and 
the  "  Parliamentary  Grant  "  in  the  other.  Now,  in  America,  the 
State  Fund  even  at  its  largest  (as,  probably,  in  Massachusetts)  bears 
a  very  much  smaller  proportion  to  the  sum  raised  by  local  taxation, 
than  the  Parliamentary  Grant  in  England  does  to  the  sum  raised 
locally  either  by  rates  and  fees,  or  by  subscriptions  and  fees.  Conse- 
quently on  this  ground  the  power  of  the  Education  Department  over 
Public  Elementary  Schools  in  England  is  much  greater  than  the 
power  of  the  State  Boards  of  Education  over  the  Common  Schools 
in  America.  But,  further,  the  Education  Law  in  England  is  wider 
and  more  far-reaching.  By  "  the  Code,"  which  is  strictly  an 
annual  appendix  to  the  Education  Acts,  the  Education  Department 
has  a  very  direct  control  over  the  buildings,  the  teachers  employed, 
and  over  the  organization  and  internal  management  of  a  public 
elementary  school ;  it  appoints  inspectors,  who  can  claim  admittance 
at  any  time  into  a  school  for  a  close  examination  and  inspection  of 
the  school  in  all  these  particulars,  and  the  amount  of  Parliamentary 
Grant,  even  to  the  extent  of  total  withdrawal,  is  subject  to  a  minute 
assessment  of  the  merits  of  the  school  as  to  its  condition,  teaching- 
staff,  and  educational  results. 

It  is  admitted,  by  thoughtful  Americans,  that  their  policy  (as 
regards  the  rural  Boards)  has  its  elements  of  weakness  as  well  as  of 
strength : — "  It  may  allow  to  be  left  for  a  long  time  untouched 
many  errors  and  defects  in  the  management  of  the  schools  which 
might  at  once  be  removed  if  the  State  were  to  lay  its  hand  directly 
upon  them ;  and  it  may  seem  thus  to  fail,  and  may  perhaps  really 
fail,  in  bringing  the  schools  with  sufficient  promptness  to  the  best 
attainable  results.  But,  on  the  other  side,  in  its  reliance  upon  the 
intelligence  and  carefulness  of  the  people  themselves  in  their  several 
localities,  and  through  the  necessity  of  working  only  through  such 
agencies,  it  may  secure,  in  a  more  permanent  form,  the  gains  that 
are  made." ' 

May  not  Englishmen  admit  that  our  policy  also  has  its  elements 
of  weakness  as  well  as  of  strength ;  that  too  much  centralization 
and  too  little  trust  in  local  interest  in  education  is  a  characteristic 
note  of  our  system,  just  as  too  little  of  the  former  and  too  much  of 
the  latter  is  of  theirs  ? 

Secondly,  the  Common  School  is  open  to  all  classes,  rich  and  poor, 
of  every  station  or  social  rank.  The  "legal  school  age"  (i.e.  the 

*  Report  of  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  1880-1. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  87 

range  of  ages  between  which  a  child  or  young  person  can  legally 
claim  to  be  educated  at  a  Common  School)  is  determined  in  each 
State  by  its  State  Law,  and  is  accepted,  with  only  a  slight  modifica- 
tion here  and  there,  by  the  Cities  or  Towns  which  are  entitled  to 
have  their  own  School  system.  The  usual  range  of  school  age  is 
from  five  or  six  to  twenty  or  twenty- one.  It  is  the  function,  then,  of 
the  Common  School  system  to  supply  any  demand  for  education 
which  can  reasonably  be  made  on  behalf  of  young  persons  between 
these  ages.  Obviously,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  such  limitation  in 
the  American  system  to  merely  elementary  education  as  pertains 
in  England,  where  Parliament  has  limited  State  recognition  to 
Elementary  schools  which  are  provided  for  the  child-popula- 
tion between  three  and  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  practically  turn 
the  scholars  out  of  school  when  they  have  passed  the  highest 
"  standard"  of  an  elementary  course  of  instruction  set  forth  by  the 
"  Code." 

In  America,  then,  every  State  requires  by  law  that  there  shall  be, 
first,  a  sufficient  number  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  every  child 
who  may  legally  attend  school  in  orthography,  reading,  writing, 
English  grammar,  geography,  arithmetic,  drawing,  the  history  of 
the  United  States,  the  constitution  of  its  own  State,  and  of  its  own 
city  or  town,  and  in  good  morals.  Higher  subjects  are  required  to 
be  taught  where  expedient.  These  schools  are,  in  working,  univer- 
sally divided  into  two  departments,  called  Primary  and  Grammar 
schools  ;  but  this  division  has  no  foundation  in  the  nature  of  things, 
but  is  made  purely  as  a  matter  of  convenience.  The  Primary  School 
receives  children  from  the  youngest  school-age  up  to  about  ten  or 
eleven ;  and  they  then  pass  on  to  the  Grammar  School,  there  to 
complete  what  practically  is  the  elementary  course.  The  arrange- 
ment has  the  advantage  of  enabling  small  Primary  Schools  to  be 
placed  nearer  the  homes  of  the  younger  children,  who  are  then  trans- 
ferred, when  able  to  walk  longer  distances,  to  a  large  and  well-grounded 
Grammar  School,  which  is  thus  fed  by  a  group  of  Primary  Schools. 
But,  secondly,  the  State  law  requires  that  there  shall  be  maintained 
in  every  town  of  so  many  hundred  (500  in  Massachusetts)  families, 
in  addition,  a  high  school,  and,  sometimes,  makes  further  provision, 
as  in  Massachusetts,  that  every  town  of  4000  inhabitants  must  widen 
its  high  school  curriculum  by  the  introduction  of  such  additional 
subjects  as  Greek,  French,  Astronomy,  Moral  Science  and  Political 
Economy. 

There  are,  or  were  until  very  recently,  no  schools,  in  the  Common 
School  system,  corresponding  to  our  English  Infants  Schools, 
receiving  children  at  three  (or  even  under  three)  years  of  age  up  to 
about  seven.  Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  as  a  result  of  a 
number  of  experiments  by  private  persons  to  adapt  the  Kinder- 
garten or  Froebellian  system  to  American  conditions — notably  at  St. 
Louis — Schools  on  the  Kindergarten  model  (called  Sub-Primary) 
have  been  established  as  part  of  the  Public  School  system. 
Following  the  lead  of  St.  Louis,  Milwaukie  and  Philadelphia  have 
Sub-Primary  Schools  firmly  established.  Boston  has  lately  joined 
this  goodly  company,  and  has  taken  over  the  fourteen  Kindergarten 


88  STATE    EDUCATION. 

schools  in  that  City,  previously  supported  by  private  benevolence ; 
and  other  cities  are  rapidly  taking  steps  in  the  same  direction.* 

Before  passing  on  to  the  work  of  the  High  Schools,  a  few 
criticisms  on  the  work  of  the  American  Primary  and  Grammar 
Schools,  based  on  the  writer's  own  observation  and  examination, 
may  serve  as  an  estimate  of  the  comparative  efficiency  of  American 
and  English  public  Elementary  Schools,  to  be  taken  for  what  it  is 
worth.  The  average  age  of  children  in  the  lowest  grade  (or  class)  on 
admission  in  American  city  schools  is  nearer  seven  than  six,  and,  as 
a  consequence  of  the  child's  first  introduction  to  mental  training  at 
an  age  nearly  two  years  greater  than  the  corresponding  age  in 
England,  where  Infant  Schools  are  universal,  it  follows  that  the 
average  age  of  children  doing  work  corresponding  to  any  given 
English  Code  Standard  is  greater  in  America  than  in  England. 
This  disparity  seems  to  hold  good  all  through  school  life,  though  in 
diminishing  degree,  that  is,  American  children  never  entirely  make 
up  for  the  time  lost  through  the  lack  of  Infant  Schools,  so  as  to  be 
as  young  in  any  "  Standard"  as  English  children.  As  no  payments  to 
the  teachers,  either  from  the  State  Fund  or  the  local  taxes  depend 
upon  the  "  results  "  of  examinations,  the  scholars  are  not  driven  at 
so  great  a  pace.  The  pace  might  be  somewhat  increased,  without 
physical  strain.  There  seems  to  be  a  little  too  much  "marking 
time."  Promotion  from  stage  to  stage  takes  place  at  long  intervals 
(sometimes  as  much  as  a  year,  as  in  England),  and  follows  rigid 
rules.  Consequently,  as  in  England,  promotion  is  not  rapid  enough 
for  the  more  intelligent  scholars.  Those  who  complete  the  course, 
going  right  through  to  the  highest  class  of  the  Grammar  School,  at 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  are  comparatively  few,  more  girls 
than  boys,  in  the  proportion  sometimes  as  high  as  two  to  one  ;  and 
these  go  through  a  "  review  "  of  the  work  of  past  years,  and  may  be 
said  to  leave  school  with  a  thoroughly  sound  practical  education. 
Large  numbers,  however,  especially  in  those  States  which  have  no  com- 
pulsory law  (i.e.,  in  about  half  of  the  States),  have  left  school  by  eleven, 
indifferently  equipped,  and  these  must  soon  lose  most  of  what  they 
have  acquired.  Those  who  leave  between  eleven  and  thirteen  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of  being  so  well  equipped  with  an 
Elementary  Education  as  corresponding  English  children.  Doubt- 
less, this  defect  in  their  school  training  is  largely  made  up  for,  after- 
wards, by  greater  adroitness  and  adaptability — the  result  partly  of 
inherited  faculty,  and  partly  also  of  the  wider  education  in  the  ways 
of  the  world,  acquired  during  those  early  years  up  to  seven,  which  are 
spent  by  English  children  in  the  narrower  community  of  the  Infant 
School. 


2.  High  Schools. 

In  passing  from  the  Grammar  School  to  the  High  School,  which 
is  equally  open  to  him  under  every  State  Common  School  System, 
the  scholar  is  being  lifted,  by  the  enlightened  provision  of  the  com- 

*  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education.  1887-8,  p.  821. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  89 

munity,  out  of  the  region  of  elementary,  into  that  of  secondarv, 
education.  Herein  America  is  in  marked  contrast  with  England. 
In  England  the  provision  for  Secondary  Education  follows  the  track 
of  the  old  endowments  of  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts,  and  is  almost 
wholly  wanting  outside  of  that  track.  But  the  distribution  of  these 
endowments  is  in  no  way  based  on  the  needs  of  modern  England, 
so  that  a  village  like  Ewelme  in  Oxfordshire  has  far  more  than  it 
can  profitably  use  ;  a  populous  town  like  Sheffield,  far  less.  In 
many  small  country  towns,  endowed  Secondary  Schools  are  to  be 
found  which  neither  Acts  of  Parliament,  Koyal  Commissions,  nor 
new  Schemes  of  government  have  been  able  to  galvanize  into  life. 
Vested  interests  have  been  too  powerful  for  the  masterly  Eecommenda- 
tions  of  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commissioners  of  1868,  which  proposed 
to  divide  the  country  into  educational  districts,  and  to  co-ordinate  the 
endowments  within  each  area  by  such  redistribution  as  would  meet 
the  latter-day  wants  of  the  community.  Though  the  composition 
and  constitution  of  governing  bodies  have  been  largely,  and,  in 
many  cases,  beneficialljr  re-modelled,  it  has  not  always  been  possible, 
even  for  Parliamentary  Commissioners,  to  eliminate  elements  antago- 
nistic to  reform.  Hence,  even  the  funds  derivable  from  endowments, 
scanty  as  they  are  for  the  needs  of  the  England  of  to-day,  are  far 
from  being  appropriated  to  the  best  advantage ;  and  the  late  Mr. 
Matthew  Arnold,  preaching  the  doctrine  of  "  organize  your  Second- 
ary Education  "  incessantly  for  five-and-twenty  years,  felt  himself 
to  be  only  a  vox  clamantis  in  deserto,  and  the  disregard  of  his  voice 
to  be  a  terrible  "  blow  for  the  declining  age  of  a  sincere  but 
ineffectual  Liberal."  * 

But  America  knows  nothing  of  these  characteristic  English  diffi- 
culties. There,  whatever  Secondary  Education  exists  (except  that 
given  by  a  few  private  schools  and  academies  in  the  wealthier  cities) 
is  provided  as  part  of  the  Public  School  System  by  the  local  School 
Board,  and  is  supported  out  of  the  taxes  annually  raised  from  the 
whole  community  for  the  purposes  of  Education.  This  is,  indeed, 
the  most  distinctive  feature  of  each  State  Common  School  system. 
The  facilities  for  higher  education  are  not  capriciously  distributed, 
by  the  chances  of  ancient  or  modern  bounty,  but  are  to  be  found  in 
the  midst  of  all  fairly  populous  cities  and  towns  in  the  State. 

But  though  the  cause  of  higher  education  escapes  our  difficulties, 
it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  has  not  difficulties  of  its  own.  It  is 
obviously  essential  to  the  proper  management  of  any  kind  of  higher 
education  that  the  managers  should  be  socially  in  sympathy  with 
those  for  whom  they  are  providing  the  education,  that  they  should 
have  an  adequate  conception  of  the  value  to  the  many  of  the  higher 
mental  training  for  the  few,  and  be  conscious  of  aims  based  on  broad 
views  of  the  fruitfulness  of  intellectual  life  in  a  nation.  Now,  un- 
happily, there  comes  across  the  usually  healthy  political  life  of  an  Ameri- 
can city  a  sick  season — a  time  when  the  unscrupulous,  the  mercenary, 
the  self-seeking,  to  whom  "  everything  human  and  divine  has  its 

*  See    Matthew    Arnold's    article   "  Porro    unum    est    necessarium,"  Fortnightly 
Review,  November,  1878. 


90  STATE    EDUCATION. 

price,"  has  full  sway;  it  is  then  that  the  better  elements  either  retire 
from  public  life  in  disgust  at  the  treatment  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected, and  in  despair  at  theirpowerlessness  to  stem  the  tide  of  deterio- 
ration that  has  set  in,  or  are  elbowed  out  of  the  honourable  posts 
they  occupied  by  the  mean  devices  of  those  who  use  these  posts  for 
their  own  dishonourable  ends.  Sad  times  these  for  higher  educa- 
tion :  for  the  selfishness  of  the  demagogue  immediately  suggests  to 
the  burdened  taxpayer,  "  Why  should  you  be  called  upon  in  your 
poverty  to  pay  for  the  Latin  and  Greek  and  other  accomplishments 
which  are  of  no  use  to  your  children,  and  which  ought  to  be  provided 
for  the  rich  man's  children  at  his  own  expense  ?  "  Most  cities  have 
had  their  days  of  re-action,  when  it  has  been  a  severe  struggle  to 
maintain  a  proper  standard  of  secondary  instruction  in  face  of  an 
outcry  like  this.  But  the  struggle  generally  ends  in  the  triumph  of 
the  better  elements ;  and  many  of  the  State  legislatures  have  checked 
the  recurrence  of  such  untoward  times  for  higher  education  by 
changes  in  the  mode  of  election  and  constitution  of  School  Boards, 
which  have  made  them  less  directly  dependent  on  popular  whim  and 
less  capable  of  manipulation  b}^  political  machinists.  "  In  this  direc- 
tion, however,  much  remains  to  be  desired."  * 

The  English  Endowed  or  Public  School  and  the  American  High 
School  being  thus  the  outcome  of  such  different  circumstances  as 
have  been  described,  present  numerous  and  marked  points  of  con- 
trast. An  English  Endowed  School  would  admit  scholars  of  all 
ages,  from  eight  or  nine  years  old  and  upwards  ;  its  standard  of 
attainment  qualifying  for  admission  would  vary  with  the  age  of  the 
candidate  ;  and  each  pupil,  on  being  admitted,  would  be  placed  in 
that  class  in  the  school  where  the  attainments  wTere  as  nearly  as 
possible  similar  to  his  own.  The  batch  of  admissions  at  a  particular 
entrance  examination,  though  the  greater  proportion  would  be  entered 
in  the  lowest  class  of  the  school,  would  be  distributed  over  a  wide 
range  of  classes.  But  in  America  the  almost  universal  rule  is  to 
make  the  condition  of  admission  to  a  High  School  either  that  the 
candidate  shall  have  passed  at  least  the  previous  year  in  some  upper 
elementary  school  (i.e.,  Grammar  School,  so  called),  and  have 
graduated,  i.e.,  satisfactorily  completed  the  course  of  instruction 
there,  or,  shall  show  in  an  examination  attainments  equivalent  to 
such  graduation.  Consequently,  all  the  pupils  entering  a  High 
School  at  a  given  time  are  as  nearly  as  possible  of  the  same  age  and 
attainments.  Having  previously  reached  the  first  grade  (or  class)  of 
an  American  Grammar  School,  they  will  average  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years  of  age ;  and  will  have  all  reached  a  certain  standard  in  the 
subjects  named  above  (p.  87)  as  forming  the  course  of  instruction 
in  Grammar  Schools.  Consequently,  though  of  such  an  advanced 
age,  they  will,  as  a  rule,  have  studied  no  foreign  language  whatever, 
ancient  or  modern. I 

*  City  School  Systems,  by  Dr.  John  D.  Philbrick,  Circular  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, 1885. 

f  Except,  possibly,  German,  if  they  should  happen  either  to  be  of  German  parentage, 
or  of  American  parentage  living  in  cities  with  a  large  German  population,  when,  as  is 
the  case  with  Welsh  children  in  a  public  elementary  school  in  Wales,  they  will  have 
received  a  bilingual  training  (English  and  Welsh)  in  the  elementary  school  itself. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  91 

The  High  School  course  (in  a  city)  usually  extends  over  four 
years,  but  sometimes,  as  in  the  newer  cities  of  the  West,  only  three 
years.  But  the  average  length  of  stay  in  the  school  is  only  a  little 
over  two  years,  and  in  the  case  of  boys,  even  less  than  that ;  *  while 
the  number  of  those  who  complete  the  course  only  ranges  from 
one-third  to  as  low  as  one-sixth  of  the  number  admitted  to  the 
school.  It  follows  that  a  High  School  accommodating  300  scholars 
will  admit  nearly  150  from  the  various  Grammar  Schools  at  one 
annual  or  two  semi-annual  admissions.  The  scholars  enter  the 
same  class  and  travel  more  or  less  pari  passu  through  the  school. 
This  class  will  be  divided  into  sections,  and  a  large  amount  of 
choice  will  be  allowed  to  each  pupil,  according  to  the  parental  views 
as  to  his  (or  her)  future  career  in  life.  In  some  cities,  the  popular 
demand  (to  which  the  High  School  must  bow)  has  compelled  the 
introduction  of  three  or  even  more  "  elective  "  courses  of  study  (not 
subjects  merely)  in  the  same  school — a  classical  or  commercial  or  a 
general  English  course.!  The  pupils  in  the  several  sections  belong- 
ing to  the  same  year  are  taken  together  in  those  general  subjects 
which  are  common  to  one  or  more  of  these  courses,  such  as  History 
or  Algebra,  and  where  any  branch  of  a  subject  is  pursued  to  a 
greater  extent  by  one  set  of  pupils  more  than  another,  further  sub- 
divisions may  be  formed.  As  a  consequence  of  this  great  liberty 
of  "  election "  on  the  part  of  scholars  as  to  the  course  of  study 
they  will  pursue,  the  High  Schools  of  America  are  almost  all  taught 
upon  the  "departmental"  system,  i.e.,  each  member  of  the  teaching- 
staff  is  a  specialist,  having  his  own  special  department  of  school- 
work — one,  or,  it  may  be,  two  subjects  which  he  teaches  throughout 
the  school — one  teacher  taking  all  the  Latin,  another  Algebra  and 
French,  another  Geometry  and  History,  another  English,  and  so 
on.  This  system  is  not  the  usual  one  in  English  Endowed  and 
Public  Schools  (though  it  is  largely  practised  in  the  High  Schools 
for  Girls  which  have  lately  been  established),  where  each  master  has 
his  own  class  for  a  given  half-year,  which  he  takes  in  a  wide  range 
of  subjects,  only  passing  his  boys  on  to  "  departmental "  masters 
for  modern  languages,  mathematics  or  science.  But  such  a  plan 
would  be  impossible  where  electiveness  of  studies  is  carried  to  such 
an  extent  as  in  America. 

As  may  well  be  imagined  from  this  description,  the  difficulties  of 
elaborating  an  effective  school  programme,  which  shall  ensure  the 
full  employment  of  every  teacher  and  scholar  during  the  school 
hours  are  considerable.  But  the  Departmental  system  in  America 
has  its  drawbacks  as  well  as  its  difficulties.  I  In  the  Grammar 
Schools  from  which  the  pupils  have  been  drafted  into  the  High 

*  In  many  of  the  High  Schools,  especially  in  the  centre  and  west  of  the  United 
States,  boys  and  girls  are  taught  in  the  same  school,  and  the  proportion  of  girls  to 
boys  in  the  highest  class  of  the  High  School  is  3,  4,  or  even  5  to  1.  This,  of  course, 
means  that  the  women  of  America  are  better  educated  than  the  men. 

t  Sometimes  there  are  two  English  courses,  one  for  children  of  English-speaking, 
and  the  other  for  children  of  German-speaking,  parents,  and  called  respectively  tho 
English-English,  and  the  German-English  courses. 

J  For  the  latest  references  to  the  "  Departmental  plan,"  see  Report  of  Commissioner 
of  Education,  1887-8,  pp.  196,  388. 


92  STATE    EDUCATION. 

School,  they  have  been  accustomed  to  the  class-teacher  system, 
where  scholar  and  teacher  are  thrown  together  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  day's  programme  for  a  half-year  or  even  a  year  at  a  time,  and 
the  relations  between  them  become  intimate,  and  even  parental,  in 
character.  But  all  this  is  changed  when  they  come  to  the  High 
School.  There  each  teacher  gives  instruction  to  perhaps  200  different 
scholars  every  day,  and  consequently  teacher  and  scholar  do  not  get, 
even  at  the  end  of  the  year,  much  beyond  an  attitude  of  amiable 
neutrality.  It  is  admitted  that  the  pupils  feel  this  reduction  of 
personal  interest  in  themselves  keenly,  and  that  this  is  one  reason  of 
their  abandoning  the  High  School  course  so  frequently  soon  after 
admission. 

Coming  now  to  the  special  studies  of  the  American  High  Schools 
many  circumstances  will  occur  to  the  mind  as  militating  against  the 
attainment  to  the  same  high  standard  of  work  which  is  reached  by 
a  thoroughly  efficient  Endowed  or  Public  School  in  England.  It  is 
obvious  that,  where  the  study  of  a  foreign  language  is  only  com- 
menced at  the  advanced  age  of  fourteen  or  thereabouts,  no  such 
proficiency  in  Latin  and  Greek  is  attainable  as  compared  with  that 
which  an  English  boy  can  show  who  was  introduced  to  one  of  these 
languages  at  eight  or  nine  years  of  age. 

Again,  a  very  general  age  for  admission  to  an  American  Uni- 
versity, even  to  the  older  institutions  of  Harvard  and  Yale,  is 
seventeen ;  consequently  a  boy  who  showed  marked  capacity  or 
taste  for  classical  studies  would  be  passed  out  of  the  High  School 
and  on  to  the  University  at  a  much  earlier  age  than  in  England, 
and  the  High  Schools  would  not  be  called  upon  to  carry  the 
classical  course  beyond  his  requirements  at  seventeen  years  of  age. 
In  a  word,  the  head  scholars  of  an  American  High  School  are  just 
three,  or  at  most  four,  years  removed  from  their  Latin  declensions ; 
in  an  English  High  School  they  would  be  more  nearly  eight 
to  ten  years  from  that  initiation  into  the  Latin  tongue.  The 
fundamental  difference  between  these  schools  in  the  two  countries 
cannot  be  more  concisely  put.  Latin  or  Greek  Verse  Composi- 
tion is  unknown ;  the  Professor  of  Classical  Literature  at  John 
Hopkins  University  (Baltimore)  told  the  writer  that  he  thought 
he  was  the  only  man  in  America  who  could  write  Greek  Iambics, 
and  he  was  an  Oxford  man.  Latin  Prose  Composition  is  not 
taught  to  any  great  extent.  Most  of  the  classical  work  that  would 
be  shown  up  by  the  scholars  of  the  first  class  of  an  American 
High  School,  aged  seventeen  or  thereabouts,  would  only  pass 
muster  in  an  English  Public  School  for  boys  of  fifteen.  Great 
attention  is,  however,  paid  to  Mathematics.  Pupils  do  not,  as  a 
rule,  study  more  than  two  foreign  languages,  so  that  those  who 
are  following  the  complete  classical  course,  and  taking  up  both 
Latin  and  Greek,  are  not  taught  any  modern  language.  It  is  not 
usual,  even  among  those  who  have  elected  for  the  English  or  Com- 
mercial courses,  to  find  more  than  one  modern  language  studied, 
which  would  be  either  French  or  German.  German  is  the  most 
popular  of  these  two  "  Electives,"  and  naturally,  because  of  the 
large  German-speaking  element  to  be  found  in  most  of  the  great 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  93 

cities.  Several  branches  of  Science  : — Physics,  Physiology,  Botany 
are  included  in  the  possible  curriculum.  Much  more  attention 
than  in  corresponding  Schools  in  England  is  paid  to  English 
Language  and  Literature,  Constitutional  History  (of  the  United 
States),  and  General  Geography.  The  complaint  is  still  frequent  in 
the  Reports  of  Superintendents  that  in  these  and  the  science  subjects 
the  tendency  is  to  require  of  the  pupils  mere  memorizing  of  the  para- 
graphs of  their  text-books,  "  dull  as  a  bill  of  lading  and  scrappy  as 
an  invoice."  The  slavery  to  text-books  has  never  been  so  conspicu- 
ous in  English  High  Schools,  though  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
schools  of  this  country  are  altogether  free  from  it.  Teaching  here, 
as  there,  is  frequently  an  artificial,  not  a  natural,  process.  And  it 
must  be  so  in  any  part  of  the  world  where  more  people  profess  the 
art  than  those  who  have  a  natural  aptitude  for  it,  or  have  taken  the 
pains  to  study  its  principles.  The  moral  of  all  which  is — train 
your  teachers. 

But  there  are  two  institutions  which  must  be  excepted  from  most 
of  the  foregoing  criticisms  on  American  High  Schools — the  Latin 
High  School,  and  the  English  High  School,  at  Boston.  That  city 
is,  as  everybody  is  aware,  the  nursing-mother  of  American  National 
Education.  Noblesse  oblige,  and  whatever  Boston  does  in  the  matter 
of  Education  is  always  worthy  of  its  traditions  and  its  enlightened 
educational  faith.  It  has  recently  (1881)  erected  for  the  Boys' 
Latin  and  English  High  Schools,  under  one  roof  or  series  of  roofs, 
what  may  be  indeed  called  a  school-palace,  vieing  in  the  complete- 
ness of  its  equipment  and  architectural  fitness  with  anything  of 
which  Vienna — that  city  of  school-palaces — can  boast.  The  late 
Bishop  Fraser  visited  (in  1865)  the  English  High  School  when  it 
was  in  its  old  premises,  and  said  of  it  even  then,  in  his  Eeport  to 
the  Schools  Inquiry  Commission,  that  "  it  ought  to  be  put  in  a 
glass-case  and  carried  over  to  England,"  as  a  specimen  of  what  a 
school  for  the  training  of  the  English  Middle  Class  for  professional 
and  business  avocations  should  be.  Would  not  his  heart  sink  within 
him  in  despair  at  England  ever  rising  to  the  same  lofty  conception 
of  what  is  true  wisdom  in  regard  to  the  education  of  the  middle- 
classes,  if  he  saw  this  school  as  it  is  now,  in  all  the  magnificent 
surroundings  of  its  new  home,  with  the  most  perfect  class-room 
arrangements,  with  science  lecture  theatres,  laboratories  and  gymna- 
sium, and  with  every  newest  device  for  securing  the  orderliness, 
health,  and  efficient  instruction  of  its  pupils !  The  English  High 
School  for  boys  was  originally  founded  in  1827,  but  the  Latin  High 
School  is  by  far  the  oldest  American  Public  School,  dating  from 
1635,  five  years  after  the  original  settlement  of  that  city  and  a  year 
before  the  founding  of  Harvard  University.  This  latter  school,  alone 
of  American  High  Schools  supported  by  public  funds,  bears  a  close 
resemblance  to  our  Public  Schools  or  First  Grade  Endowed  Schools 
in  England.  The  object  of  the  school  is  distinctly  to  prepare  boys 
for  the  University,  and  parents  are  required  to  signify  their  intention 
of  giving  their  sons  a  University  education.  It  is  not  a  Finishing 
School,  preparing  boys  for  business  life,  as  the  American  High 
Schools  of  the  ordinary  type  profess  to  be,  and  as  the  other — the 


94  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Boston  English  High  School — is,  hut  it  is  a  Preparatory  School  for 
the  University.  Instead  of  admitting  boys  only  on  condition  of 
their  having  completed  the  Grammar  School  course,  they  are  en- 
couraged to  enter  much  earlier,  and  the  admission  Examination 
only  requires  a  standard  to  be  reached  equivalent  to  the  third  class 
of  the  Grammar  School,  instead  of  the  first.  Thus  boys  of  twelve, 
or  even  eleven,  find  their  way  into  the  Latin  High  School,  and  as 
they  stay  till  seventeen,  and  sometimes  till  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  devote  their  time  mainly  to  the  classics — with  some  mathematics 
and  science  in  addition — it  follows  that  the  majority  of  them  go  to 
College  with  six  or  seven  years  of  thorough  classical  training  as  a 
foundation  for  further  study. 

Recently  also,  the  Board  School  for  Boston  has  erected  Girls' 
Latin,  and  Girls'  EngJish  High  Schools  in  another  part  of  the  city, 
and  with  courses  of  instruction  precisely  the  same  as  those  in  the 
corresponding  schools  for  boys.  These  schools  are  the  result  of 
an  agitation  carried  on  over  many  years  to  obtain  for  girls  the  privi- 
lege of  being  trained  to  an  intelligent  womanhood  on  the  same 
grounds,  and  by  the  same  means,  as  boys  had  long  been  trained  to 
an  intelligent  manhood.  The  maxim  of  co-education,  which  is  that 
boys  and  girls  should  be  educated  together,  up  to  any  age,  in  the 
same  school  and  in  the  same  class-rooms  is  not  accepted  in  Boston. 
This  principle  has  been  very  generally  adopted  in  High  Schools  in 
the  cities  of  the  newer  Western  States  of  America,  and  in  towns  of 
small  population  in  the  Eastern  States,  for  obvious  reasons  of 
economy ;  but  it  does  not  meet  with  favour  in  the  larger  of  the  old 
communities  in  the  East,  and  has  led  to  considerable  abstentions 
from  the  use  of  the  Public  High  School  on  the  part  of  the  wealthier 
classes  in  the  West,  who  prefer  to  send  their  daughters  at  all  events, 
and  even  their  sons,  to  private  Academies.  Though  co-education 
finds  many  able  and  honest  advocates  among  prominent  educationists 
on  a  priori  grounds,  parents  of  families  find  that  it  bristles  with 
practical  difficulties.  The  question  is  a  wide  one,  and  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  dealt  with  in  this  essay.  But  with  regard  to  High 
Schools — and  we  are  now  speaking  exclusively  of  such  Schools — 
where  the  scholars  are  of  ages  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  and  are  drawn 
from  homes  of  widely-different  surroundings  and  social  ideas,  it  may 
be  assumed — to  quote  Dr.  Philbrick's  words — "  that  separate  educa- 
tion of  the  sexes  and  not  co-education  in  the  High  School  grade  of 
the  city  schools  is  the  normal  finality  to  which  all  civilisation  tends." 
With  this  verdict,  most  English  people  will,  doubtless,  agree. 

In  closing  these  remarks  upon  American  Secondary  Education  as 
part  of  the  Common  School  System,  we  conclude,  as  we  began,  by 
emphasizing  the  one  great  and  glaring  point  of  contrast  between 
America  and  England : — Whatever  the  shortcomings  of  the  American 
High  School,  its  glory  is  that  it  exists  everywhere  ;  maintained  at 
the  public  cost  of  the  tax-payer,  within  reasonable  reach  of  every 
family  of  the  middle  classes,  and  accessible  to  the  brighter  intelli- 
gences among  the  poorest ;  while,  whatever  the  excellences  of  the 
English  Endowed  School,  where  it  is  found  in  good  working  order, 
the  crying  grievance  is  that  it  exists  only  in  a  few  favoured  but 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  95 

isolated  spots,  and  the  bulk  of  the  middle  classes  of  England  as 
well  as  the  exceptionally  gifted  of  the  working  classes, 

"  look  up,  and  are  not  fed, 

But,  swoln  with  wind  and  the  rank  mist  they  draw, 
Rot  inwardly." 

Iii  lifting  up  his  lamentation  over  this  glaring  defect  in  our 
English  educational  system,  Matthew  Arnold,  though  dead,  yet 
speaks  words  of  wisdom  and  of  justice  when  he  says  :  * — "  The 
existing  resources  for  secondary  instruction,  if  judiciously  co- 
ordered  and  utilised,  would  prove  to  be  immense  ;  but  undoubtedly 
gaps  would  have  to  be  filled,  an  annual  State  grant  and  municipal 
grants  would  be  necessary.  That  is  to  say,  the  nation  would  per- 
form, as  a  corporate  and  co-operative  work,  a  work  which  is  now 
never  conceived  and  laid  out  as  a  whole,  but  is  done  sporadically, 
precariously,  and  insufficiently.  We  have  had  experience  how  ele- 
mentary instruction  gains  by  being  thus  conceived  and  laid  out, 
instead  of  being  left  to  individual  adventure  or  individual  benevo- 
lence. The  middle  class,  who  contribute  so  immense  a  share  of  the 
cost  incurred  for  the  public  institution  of  elementary  schools,  while 
their  own  school  supply  is  so  miserable,  would  be  repaid  twenty 
times  over  for  their  share  in  the  additional  cost  of  publicly  institut- 
ing secondary  instruction  by  the  direct  benefit  which  they  and  theirs 
would  get  from  its  system  of  schools.  The  upper  class,  which  has 
bought  out  the  middle  class  at  so  many  of  the  great  foundation 
schools  designed  for  its  benefit,  and  which  has  monopolised  what 
good  secondary  instruction  we  have,  owes  to  the  middle  class  the 
reparation  of  contributing  to  a  public  system  of  secondary  schools." 


3.  Free,  Compulsory,  and  Secular  Education. 

Thirdly,  throughout  the  American  Common  School  System — alike 
in  Primary,  Grammar,  and  High  Schools — and  in  all  the  States 
without  exception,  instruction  is  gratuitous,  or,  in  ordinary  parlance, 
free. 

The  adoption  of  the  principle  of  Free  Schools  has  only  become 
general  in  the  United  States  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  Massachusetts,  and  in  those  of  the  New  England  States  where 
the  original  settlements  were  made,  and  the  State  system  set  up,  in 
the  17th  century,  by  Presbyterian  exiles  from  England,  the  "  Free  " 
School  was  adopted  from  the  very  first.  The  explanation  of  this  is, 
that  the  Presbyterian  exodus  from  these  shores  (which  is  not  to  be 
confounded,  as  is  often  the  case,  with  the  Puritan  exodus  to  Ply- 
mouth in  the  "  Mayflower  ")  was  largely  composed  of  men  of  means 
and  of  fair  social  position  among  the  middle  classes — country 
squires,  clergymen,  lawyers  and  merchants,  such  as  the  Winthrops, 
Vanes,  Eatons  and  Bellinghams  ;  and  these  men  had  been  educated 
in  English  Endowed  Grammar  Schools,  in  all  (or  almost  all)  of 

*  See  his  article  in  the  Fortnightly  JRevieio  quoted  above,  p.  89. 


96  STATE    EDUCATION. 

which  instruction  was  entirely  (or  almost  entirely)  gratuitous.  These 
men,  therefore,  carried  the  principle  of  free  education  with  them 
from  England  ;  and  it  is  their  special  glory  that  they  enlarged  the 
conception  of  this  "  free  "  principle  so  as  to  cover  the  educational 
needs  of  every,  even  the  poorest,  citizen  of  the  new  communities 
across  the  Atlantic,  all  the  while  that  "  the  poor,"  i.e.  the  labouring 
classes  in  the  mother  country,  remained  without  any  education  till 
the  present  century,  and  even  now  do  not  receive  it  at  the  public 
cost,  without  school  fees.  But  the  difficulty  of  raising  sufficient 
funds  for  educational  purposes,  as  the  population  of  the  community 
increased  faster  than  its  wealth,  led  even  the  New  England  States 
to  fall  back  upon  the  expedient  of  school  fees,  except  Massachusetts, 
which  has  under  all  financial  stress  remained  true  to  the  spirit  and 
letter  of  its  earliest  Education  Law.  And  so,  school  fees  were 
exacted  in  the  form  familiarly  known  as  "  rate-bills,"  from  all 
parents  (except  in  cases  of  poverty,  which  had  to  declare  and  prove 
itself)  in  all  but  this  State  until  about  the  middle  of  the  present 
century.  Then  an  agitation  commenced  against  them,  largely  on 
the  ground  that  "  attendance  was  repelled  by  directly  taxing  it  "  ; 
and  this,  gaining  force  and  volume  as  it  progressed,  slowly  and 
steadily  prevailed,  first  in  one  State  and  then  in  another,  until,  by 
the  year  1871,  the  rate-bill  had  entirely  disappeared,  and  instruction 
in  the  Common  Schools  of  every  State  became  entirely  gratuitous. 
The  effect  of  the  removal  of  direct  taxation  from  school  attendance 
has  been  just  what  was  anticipated :  greater  enrolment  and  more 
regular  attendance  have  been  characteristic  of  the  school  returns 
uninterruptedly  since  the  abolition  of  fees. 

A  further  movement  is  gaining  ground  for  the  gratuitous  supply 
of  text-books  and  stationery.  The  arguments  for  this  extension  of 
the  principle  of  gratuitous  instruction  are  partly  economic  and  partly 
moral :  (1)  Expense  would  be  saved,  because  the  books  would  be 
purchased  on  more  advantageous  terms  by  the  School  Board,  and, 
when  they  had  served  their  purpose  with  one  batch  of  scholars, 
would  be  available  for  use  by  the  next  batch  coming  up  to  that 
grade ;  and  (2)  The  invidious  distinction  between  the  well-to-do 
who  can  afford  to  buy  books  and  the  poor  who,  under  present  regu- 
lations, can  only  obtain  their  books  gratis  on  a  personal  plea  of  poverty, 
would  be  obliterated.  The  policy  of  supplying  free  books  has  been 
adopted  for  seventy  years  in  Philadelphia  and  for  fifty  years  in  New 
York,  and  its  success  has  led  to  its  adoption  in  many  other  cities. 
The  State  Law  of  Massachusetts,  which  made  the  provision  of  text- 
books by  a  city  or  town  optional  by  an  enactment  in  1873,  has  since 
1884,  made  it  compulsory  upon  all  cities  and  towns  to  furnish  all 
pupils  in  the  public  schools  with  free  books  and  stationery.* 

This  is  the  place  to  say  something  about  compulsion,  or  the  en- 

*  "  The  free  text-book  Act  has  undoubtedly  been  a  large  factor  in  filling  our  high 
schools  and  the  upper  classes  of  the  grammar  schools."  Report  Boston  School 
Committee,  1886-7.  In  Massachusetts  in  1888,  the  average  attendance  was  90  per 
cent,  of  the  average  membership  (Eep.  Mass.  Board  of  Education,  1888)  ;  in  England, 
the  average  attendance  for  the  same  year  was  77  per  cent,  of  the  number  on  the 
books. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  97 

forcement  of  attendance  at  school  by  legal  enactment.  The  American 
States  have  shown  very  great  reluctance  thus  to  interfere  with  the 
legal  rights  of  parents  over  their  children,  and  to  assert  the  legal 
rights  of  children  as  against  their  parents.  But  they  are  rapidly 
recognising  the  stern  logic  of  facts  which,  presented  in  the  form  of 
annual  statistics  of  child-vagrancy  and  adult-illiteracy,  are  con- 
vincing them  that  parental  indulgence,  negligence  and  greed,  are 
greater  sources  of  danger  to  the  community  than  any  encroachment 
could  be  on  parental  liberty  to  deprive  his  offspring  of  education. 
"  The  State,  though  it  has  provided  a  free  gift  to  its  children,  yet 
finds  it  necessary  to  compel  its  acceptance  " — this  is  the  painful 
conclusion  to  which  the  American  mind  is  coming,  but  only  very 
slowly  and  unwillingly.  Barely  one-half  of  the  States  (only  16  or 
17  out  of  38)  have  as  yet  adopted  any  compulsory  laws,  and  these, 
where  they  are  in  force,  are  generally  very  mild  in  character,  and 
are  still  more  mildly  administered.  The  most  stringent  compulsory 
law  does  not  require  attendance  for  more  than  half  the  number  of 
weeks  in  the  school  year,  and  then  only  from  children  above  eight 
years  of  age  ;  the  offence  of  truancy  rarely  touches  more  than  excep- 
tional and  flagrant  cases  ;  the  penalties  for  the  breach  of  the  law  on 
the  part  of  parents  and  guardians  are  (except  in  Massachusetts) 
slight  and  ineffectual,  and  only  in  Massachusetts,  and  perhaps  in 
one  or  two  cities,  are  truant  officers  appointed  to  search  out  cases  of 
illegal  employment,  or  are  penalties  attached  to  such  illegal  employ- 
ment of  children  of  school  age.  In  many  States  where  the  law  (as 
in  New  York  State  Law,  1875)  looks  strong,  it  is  practically  a  dead 
letter.* 

The  contrast  with  England  in  this  respect  is  most  striking. 
Though  England  has  not  provided  education  as  a  free  gift  to  her 
children,  she  has  yet  determined  to  enforce  its  acceptance.  And, 
having  determined  this,  she  has  set  to  work  in  spite  of  the  retention 
of  the  school  fees  to  carry  out  compulsion  with  a  rigour  which  is  in 
marked  contrast  to  the  mildness  of  American  compulsion.  In 
England,  the  Law,  first  introduced  in  1870,  and  strengthened  by 
further  enactments  in  1876  and  1880,  is  now  universal ;  it  applies  to 
all  children  over  five  years  of  age ;  it  requires  regular  attendance 
morning  and  afternoon  for  five  days  in  the  week  all  through  the 
school  year ;  it  imposes  penalties  upon  parents  for  the  irregular 
attendance  of  their  children  as  well  as  for  their  truancy  and 
vagrancy,  and  upon  employers  for  illegal  employment  of  children 
who  should  be  at  school ;  and  it  has  armed  School  Boards,  and 
School  Attendance  Committees  in  non-School  Board  areas,  with 
very  large  powers,  which  they  are  obliged  «to  exercise,  for  follow- 
ing up  and  detecting  offenders,  whether  children,  or  parents,  or 
employers  of  labour. 

The  question  that  is  now  arousing  considerable  public  interest  in 
England,  and  pressing  upon  practical  statesmen  for  solution,  is 
whether  the  community  can  fairly  and  reasonably  enforce  such  a 


*  See  Parliamentary  Blue  Book,  Royal  Commission  on  Education,  Foreign  Returns, 
1888,  p.  295. 

VOL.    I.  H 


98  STATE    EDUCATION. 

stringent  compulsory  Law  without  making  the  education  to  which  it 
applies  a  free  gift  for  the  compelled,  at  the  puhlic  cost. 

Fourthly,  and  lastly,  instruction  in  the  Common  Schools  is  con- 
fined to  secular  subjects  entirely  in  three-fourths  of  the  States ;  * 
and  in  the  remaining  States,  religious  instruction  of  an  unsectarian 
character  is  either  required  to  be  given  (in  New  Hampshire  alone), 
permitted  to  be  given,  or  not  forbidden  to  be  given,  by  the  teachers, 
with  the  right  of  children  to  absent  themselves ;  and  this  permission 
is  very  variously  made  use  of,  the  amount  of  religious  instruction  in 
most  cases  being  limited  to  reciting  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  reading 
the  Bible  without  comment. 

The  Common  School  is  only  one  of  the  agencies  recognised  as 
operating  for  the  development  of  the  perfect  manhood  of  an  American 
citizen,  and,  as  the  School  does  not  usurp,  so  neither  does  it  ignore, 
the  functions  of  the  Church  and  the  Family  as  copartners  with  it  in 
this  development.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  attitude  of  America 
towards  religious  instruction.  Moreover,  there  are  practical  considera- 
tions which  have  influenced  this  division  of  labour.  The  existence  of 
a  Roman  Catholic  population  in  a  city — if  these  children  are  to  have 
the  same  educational  rights  as  those  of  all  other  American  citizens 
to  the  schools  to  which  all  alike  contribute  by  taxation — has  of 
itself  the  effect  of  confining  the  teaching  exclusively  to  purely 
secular  subjects.  The  lioman  Catholics  will  not  accept  unsectarian 
religious  teaching  at  any  price  ;  they  will  not  allow  the  children  to 
be  present  at  the  reading  from  a  version  of  the  Bible  (the  Authorized 
Version)  which,  though  accepted  by  Protestant  Churches,  is  repudi- 
ated by  their  own  Church.  Protests  are  raised,  from  time  to  time, 
.against  what  is  considered  so  disastrous  for  morality  and  religion  as 
.a  school  system  which,  though  it  enjoins  the  teaching  and  inculca- 
tion of  moral  principles,  largely  precludes  reference  to  the  highest 
moral  sanction.  American  State  and  City  Reports  are  very  reticent 
-on  this  subject  from  fear,  possibly,  of  stirring  up  a  heated  discussion 
"which  would  hinder  the  progress  of  the  school  system  ;  but  on  the 
whole  it  seems  as  if  the  secular  platform  is  maintaining  its  ground 
in  spite  of  an  occasional  charge  of  "  godlessness  "  which  can  be  so 
readily  met,  as  it  has  been  met  by  the  following  words  of  Secretary 
•John  W.  Dickenson  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education  :f 
"  The  public  schools  are  condemned  by  some  because  they  are  god- 
less institutions.  The  charge  should  be  carefully  examined  for  its 
meaning.  If  it  means  that  theology  is  not  one  of  the  branches  of 
-study  required  or  permitted  to  be  taught,  the  charge  is  true,  and  the 
public  Common  School  could  not  live  a  day  if  it  were  not  true.  If 
it  means  that  the  schools  are  anti-religious  in  any  sense,  the  charge 
has  already  been  shown  to  be  unqualifiedly  false.  It  must  be  false, 
unless  the  cultivation  of  good  intellectual  and  moral  habits  is 
opposed  to  a  faithful  consideration  of  the  highest  truths  that  refer  to 

*  Twenty-seven  out  of  the  thirty-six  States  who  furnished  Returns  to  the  Royal 
Commission  on  the  Elementary  Education  Acts,  see  Blue  Book,  Foreign  Returns,  1888. 
The  remaining  nine  States  are  Florida,  Maine,  Michigan,  New  Hampshire,  New 
Jersey,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  Vermont  and  Virginia.  Ohio  made  no  Return. 

t  See  Report,  Mass.  Board  of  Education,  1888,  p.  78. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  99 

our  future,  as  well  as  to  our  present,  well-being.  What  harm  can 
jsome  to  a  true  religion  from  the  ability  to  read,  or  to  perform 
.arithmetical  problems  ;  from  a  knowledge  of  the  constitution  and 
uses  of  things  in  the  natural  world ;  from  an  understanding  of  the 
principles  and  forms  of  our  civil  Government ;  from  the  power  to 
reason  correctly ;  from  a  training  in  the  practice  of  good  manners  ; 
jor  from  the  cultivation  of  the  virtues,  which  are  the  ornament  of 
-society  and  the  basis  of  a  republican  constitution  ?  It  seems  hardly 
possible  that  in  this  age  of  the  world,  and  in  this  civilised  State, 
religion  should  stand  in  fear  of  general  intelligence,  or  of  personal 
freedom." 


4.  The  Training  of  Teachers,  and  "  Teachers'  Institutes." 

No  survejr  of  American  Common  School  Education  would  be 
.complete  which  did  not  include  some  account  of  the  provision  made 
in  the  several  States  for  the  supply  of  teachers  and  for  their  efficient 
training.  The  right  to  select  the  teacher  is  possessed,  and  tena- 
ciously clung  to,  by  each  local  School  Board,  and  the  only  control, 
which  each  State  can  and  does  exercise  over  the  qualifications  of  the 
teachers  employed  within  its  area,  lies  in  fixing  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  prepared  to  grant  licences  to  teach  (after  examination  by 
the  State  Superintendent),  and  in  refusing  all  "  appropriations  " 
from  the  State  Education  Fund  to  any  City  or  Town  Board  which 
employs  unlicensed  or  uncertificated  teachers.  Most  of  the  States 
issue  such  licences  or  certificates,  and  exercise  the  power  of  the 
purse — with  greater  or  less  effect  upon  the  Boards  according  to  the 
length  of  that  purse — to  exclude  uncertificated  teachers  from  the 
Public  Schools.  The  qualifications  required  are  very  various,  and 
for  teachers  in  the  rural  districts,  often  deplorably  low ;  but,  as  a 
rule,  no  one  is  allowed  to  undertake  any  subjects  except  those  for 
which  his  certificate  shows  him  to  be  qualified.  The  School  Boards 
of  the  great  cities,  in  like  manner  make  the  possession  of  a  certificate 
from  the  City  Superintendent  a  condition  of  employment  as  a 
teacher. 

The  source  of  supply  of  Teachers  is  found  in  the  '  Graduates  '  of 
the  Grammar  or  High  Schools,  or  from  those  who  have  spent  one 
year  or  more  in  Normal  Schools  or  at  the  Universities.  The  age 
at  which  young  persons  commence  teaching  may  be  as  young  as  16 
or  17,  but  is  rarety  less  than  18  in  cities  and  populous  towns.  The 
English  "  pupil-teacher  "  system  is  not  found  any  where  in  the  States. 
By  far  the  larger  proportion  of  teachers  engaged  in  the  common 
schools  are  women.  The  teachers  in  the  primary  schools,  all  but  the 
principals  (and  sometimes  even  the  principals)  of  Grammar  Schools 
for  both  sexes,  and  some  of  those  in  High  Schools  for  boys  are 
women.  They  stay  in  the  profession  longer  than  the  men,  in- 
tending, unless  they  marry,  to  make  a  livelihood  by  it.  The  men, 
on  the  other  hand,  largely  use  teaching  as  a  stepping-stone  to  other 
literary  professions,  or  to  the  many  avenues  of  commerce  which  are- 

H  2 


ioo  STATE    EDUCATION. 

continually  opening  up  in  such  a  country  of  new  enterprises  and  new 
conquests  over  primitive  nature  as  America.  The  scale  of  pay  for 
men  (except  in  Massachusetts)  is  not  at  all  calculated  to  counteract 
this  influence,  being  decidedly  low,  considering  the  high  rents  and 
great  cost  of  living ;  and  is  often  (in  the  Western  States)  very  slightly 
higher  than  that  of  women.  Then,  most  of  the  Boards,  especially 
those  outside  the  cities,  make  the  appointments  of  their  teachers 
terminate  at  the  end  of  each  school  year ;  and  the  shortness  of  the 
engagement,  and  the  insecurity  of  re-engagement,  greatly  favour 
and  encourage  this  tendency  to  treat  "  school-keeping "  as  a 
temporary  occupation.* 

By  way  of  comparison  and  contrast,  it  may  first  he  noted  that, 
in  England  also,  the  appointment  of  the  teacher  rests  solely  with 
the  School  Boards  or  Bodies  of  Managers,  while  Parliament  (through 
the  Education  Department)  lays  down  as  a  condition  of  sharing  in 
the  Goverment  grant,  that  the  Head  Teacher,  at  least,  shall  hold  a 
Government  Certificate,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  staff  shall  possess 
certain  qualifications ;  and  here,  also,  small  schools  in  rural  districts- 
are  allowed  to  be  in  charge  of  head  teachers  with  qualifications  of  a 
comparatively  low  standard  (known  as  the  "provisional  certificate"). 
The  Teachers  in  English  Elementary  Schools  are  mostly  recruited 
from  the  Elementary  schools  themselves — a  state  of  things  rendered 
possible,  and  indeed  purposely  created,  by  the  "pupil-teacher  system,"" 
whereby  young  persons  of  both  sexes  ma}r,  and  do,  enter  the  profes- 
sion at  the  early  age  of  14.  The  numerical  preponderance  of  women 
over  men  engaged  in  teaching  is  not  so  great  as  in  America,  in  spite 
of  the  existence  of  Infant  Schools  staffed  wholly  by  women,  because 
here,  as  a  rule,  boys  are  taught,  after  the  infants'  stage  is  passed, 
entirely  by  men.  Again,  in  marked  contrast  to  the  American  phe- 
nomenon,' the  vast  majority  of  the  men  who  enter  the  profession 
(certainly  if  they  get  beyond  the  pupil-teacher  stage  and  become 
assistants,  or  go  to  a  Training  College),  take  it  up  as  a  means  of 
livelihood  and  adopt  it  permanently.  This  great  advantage  to  edu- 
cation which  the  English  schools  possess  over  the  American  is 
largely  secured  to  them  by  comparative  fixity  of  tenure,  and  by 
the  higher  rate  of  salaries  for  men  (taking  into  account  the  smaller 
cost  of  living)  which  generally  obtains  in  England,  no  less  than  by 
the  tendency  characteristic  of  this  country  to  choose  a  career  and 
stick  to  it. 

But  the  American  States  have  not  remained  satisfied  with  simply 
requiring,  where  they  could,  that  the  teachers  employed  should 
possess  some  kind  of  certificate  attesting  to  a  certain  amount  of 
knowledge  of  the  subjects  to  be  taught,  but  they  have,  most  of 
them,  realised  the  paramount  necessity  of  some  training  for  them 
in  the  art  and  science  of  education.  Accordingly,  second  to  none  of 
the  means  by  which  each  State — as  a  State — influences  the  Common 
School  instruction  within  its  borders,  its  great  concern  has  been  to- 
secure  this  professional  instruction.  The  last  half-century,  corn- 

*  "  The  tenure  of  office  of  teachers  is  becoming  more  permanent,  and  it  is  a  sign  of 
progress."  Rep.  Mass.  Board  of  Education,  1888. 


WESTERN   STATE    EDUCATION.  101 

mencing  with  the  year  1839,  when  the  first  State  Normal  Schools 
were  established  by  Massachusetts  at  Lexington  (transferred  to 
Framingham)  and  at  Westfield,  has  witnessed  the  founding  of  nearly 
one  hundred  of  these  Normal  Schools  (or  Training  Colleges,  as 
they  would  be  called  in  England);  and,  if  we  add  to  these  the 
Normal  Schools  and  Teachers'  Training  Classes  set  up  by  counties 
and  cities,  a  grand  total  of  134  Public  Normal  Schools  is  reached, 
maintained  by  public  funds,  and,  in  most  cases,  free  of  charge  to 
those  students  who  declare  their  intention  of  following  their  pro- 
fession in  the  Common  Schools.*  Of  these  Normal  Schools,  Wis- 
consin alone  supplies  five,  Massachusetts  six,  New  York  State  nine, 
and  Pennsylvania  no  fewer  than  eleven.  The  demand  for  pro- 
fessionally trained  teachers  is  still  largely  in  excess  of  the  supply, 
and  the  States  are  every  year  founding  additional  Normal  Schools. 
In  the  Southern  States,  where  the  need  is  most  felt  and  the  State 
resources  are  subject  to  most  strain,  the  Peabody  Trust  has 
stimulated  and  assisted  local  effort  (as  in  Virginia,  South  Carolina, 
and  Tennessee)  with  liberal  appropriations. 

In  the  Cities  which  have  taken  professional  training  in  hand,  the 
machinery  for  this  training  assumes  various  forms,  adapted  to  local 
circumstances.  The  High  School  for  Girls  at  Philadelphia,  which 
has  been  presided  over  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  by  the 
veteran  Principal,  George  W.  Fetter,  is  the  Normal  School  for  that 
city.  Out  of  a  total  of  nearly  2000  Pupils  (Rep.  Bureau  of 
Educn.,  1887-8),  228  Pupils  were  enrolled  for  the  Teachers'  Train- 
ing Course,  and  575  Students  were  in  the  Practising  Schools  attached, 
which  embrace  boys,  girls,  and  Kindergarten  departments.  This 
Normal  School  has  a  three  years'  course,  commencing  at  about 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  a  fourth  year  of  studentship  in  the 
Practising  Schools,  before  teaching  certificates  are  awarded.  New 
York  City  has  a  corresponding  institution  on  an  equally  large  scale, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  nearly  one-half  of  the  students  who  have 
graduated  at  this  School  (here  called  a  College)  are  teaching  in  the 
Common  Schools  of  the  city.  In  other  cities,  we  find  a  Training 
Class  formed  as  an  extra  year's  course  in  the  High  School,  or 
a  Normal  Department  attached  to  the  State  or  local  University 
which  may  happen  to  be  situated  in  its  vicinity.  The  State  Normal 
Schools,  which  are  mostly  for  women  only,  though  some  are  for  both 
sexes,  usually  arrange  for  day  or  non-boarding  students  only,  each 
student  making  private  arrangements  for  residence  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  School;  but  some  of  them  receive  Boarders,  while  there 
are  three  or  four  State  Schools  (in  Massachusets  and  New  Jersey), 
which  are  restricted  to  boarding  students.  Each  State  makes  its 
terms  of  admission,  which  are  dependent  upon  examinations  equiva- 
lent to  the  higher  Grammar,  or  middle  High  School,  grades.  The 
usual  age  of  admission  is  sixteen  for  women,  and  seventeen  for  men. 
The  "  graduating  "  course  varies  cortsiderabty  in  length,  from  one 

*  Report,  Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  U.  S.  A.,  1887-8.  Ohio  is  the  only  one 
of  the  older  States  which  has  not  established  a  State  Normal  School,  but  there  is  a 
Normal  Department  at  the  State  University  at  Athens,  and  Normal  Schools  at 
Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  and  two  other  cities. 


102  STATE    EDUCATION. 

year  in   some    States,   to   three  or  four  in  others.     No   religious 
instruction  is  given  in  Normal  Schools.* 

In  treating  of  the  professional  training  of  teachers  in  America, 
mention,  and  very  conspicuous  mention,  is  merited  by  a  piece  of 
machinery  entirely  of  American  origin,  and  quite  peculiar  to  that 
country.  This  is  "The  Teachers'  Institute."  This  kind  of 
organization,  the  first  experiment  in  which  was  made  by  the 
voluntary  eiforts  of  Dr.  Hemy  Barnard,  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1839, 
has  since  been  universally  recognised  as  a  most  valuable  supplement 
to,  or  substitute  for,  professional  training  in  the  Normal  School 
proper,  so  that  all  the  States  with  few  exceptions,  have  now  incorpo- 
rated into  their  School  laws  regulations  for  the  holding  of  Teachers' 
Institutes,  and  have  set  apart  appropriations  for  their  support,  even 
making  attendance  compulsory  in  some  cases  upon  all  teachers- 
engaged  in  public  schools. 

A  Teachers'  Institute  may  be  defined  concisely  as  an  "  itinerant 
normal  school"  for  the  professional  education  of  teachers  actually 
engaged  in  teaching.  The  Institute  is  organised  under  direction  of 
the  State  Superintendent,  who  associates  with  himself  one  or  two 
principals  of  Normal  Schools,  and  some  of  the  ablest  City  or  Town 
Superintendents  in  the  district  in  which  the  Institute  is  to  be  heldr 
and  thus  a  Normal  School  is  extemporized  at  a  given  centre,  which 
holds  a  session  for  some  days  or  weeks  there,  and  then  migrates  to 
another  centre,  passing  from  place  to  place  during  the  autumn 
months.  By  this  means  an  Institute  normal  training  is  brought 
within  easy  reach  of  every  teacher  in  the  State  once  every  year. 
The  instruction  is  generally  given  gratuitously  at  the  expense  of 
the  State,  and,  wherever  the  Institute  is  held,  all  sections  of  the 
residents  combine  to  reduce  the  cost  which  would  fall  upon  the 
teachers  for  board  and  lodging  by  hospitably  housing  or  enter- 
taining them  Curing  the  session  of  the  Institute.  The  duration 
of  each  session  varies  inversely  with  the  other  provision  which 
the  States,  Counties  and  Cities  have  made  for  normal  training, 
"Where,  as  in  Massachusetts,  a  large  proportion  of  the  teachers- 
actually  employed  in  the  schools  have  already  received  normal  train- 
ing in  a  Normal  School  proper,  the  Institute  session  lasts  for  only 
one  clear  day.f  But  where,  as  in  the  more  Western  and  Southern 
States,  the  large  majority  of  the  teachers  are  not  normally  trained y 
the  Institute  Session  is  made  to  extend  to  two,  or  even  three  weeks* 
Other  supplementary  aids  to  the  professional  training  and  general 
culture  of  teachers  are  to  be  found  in  Township  Institutes,  Teachers' 
Conventions  and  Associations,  which  exist  in  nearly  every  town 
having  a  graded  system  of  public  schools;  also  in  Teachers'  Beading 
Circles  for  the  study  of  works  on  Pedagogy  and  Moral  Science  ;  and 
in  Holiday  or  Summer  Normal  Schools,  where  recreation,  social 
intercourse,  and  professional  study  and  discussion  combine  to  pro- 

*  For  some  insight  into  the  inner  working  of  American  Normal  Schools,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  "  Notes  on  American  Schools  and  Training  Colleges,"  by  Dr.  Fitch,  Her 
Majesty's  Inspector  of  Training  Colleges  for  Schoolmistresses,  Blue  Book,  1889. 

f  Nineteen  such  one-day  Institutes  were  held  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  in 
1887-8.  See  Rep.  Mass.  Board  of  Education,  1887-8. 


WESTERN    STATE    EDUCATION.  103 

mote  healthiness,  good  fellowship,  homogeneity  and  a  high  standard 
of  educational  ideals  among  American  Teachers.* 


5.  Conclusion. 

In  bringing  this  survey  of  the  American  Common  School  system 
to  a  close,  the  writer  is  again  impressed  with  the  inefncacy  of  facts 
and  figures,  reports  and  statistics,  however  deftly  handled,  to  strike 
the  characteristic  note  of  the  American  system,  so  as  to  convey  to 
an  English  mind  all  that  it  conveys  to  an  American.  The 
system  is  the  creation  of  the  all-pervading  democratic  idea,  which, 
Minerva-like,  leapt  into  full  being  in  the  seventeenth  century : 
in  England,  the  feudalism  of  the  middle  ages  still  survives,  and 
is  only  slowly  being  transmuted  by  the  infusion  of  the  demo- 
cratic idea  of  the  nineteenth.  When  our  English  Koyal  Commis- 
sion on  the  Education  Acts  sent  its  paper  of  inquiries  the  other 
dajr  to  the  several  American  State  Boards  of  Education  asking, 
among  others,  the  question,  "  From  what  class  of  society  are  the 
teachers  drawn?"  that  State,!  which  gave  back  the  laconic  reply, 
"  We  are  democrats,"  put  the  fundamental  differentia  between  the 
English  and  American  mind  into  the  clear  view  which  a  flash  of 
lightning  momentarily  produces  on  a  landscape  in  darkness. 
"Among  the  important  virtues,"  says  Mr.  Secretary  Dickenson,t 
"  which  the  public  school  is  adapted  to  cultivate,  is  patriotism  or 
love  of  country.  The  love  of  benefactors  is  a  natural  affection. 
It  springs  up  in  the  mind  on  the  perception  of  favours  received. 
The  public  school  is  the  free  gift  of  the  State.  It  is  the  best  gift 
of  a  government  to  its  people.  As  the  scholar  comes  to  under- 
stand its  value  to  him  as  an  individual  and  a  citizen ;  as  he 
becomes  aware  that  his  intelligence  and  the  free  government  which 
protects  him  are,  in  an  important  sense,  the  results  of  its  developing 
influences,  his  love  of  country  grows  stronger,  and  his  desire  to 
promote  its  welfare  increases.  In  the  same  way  it  may  be  shown 
that  the  public  school,  by  its  organization  and  exercises,  is  adapted 
to  cultivate  all  the  social  virtues,  and  at  the  same  time  to  train  the 
children  to  that  self-control  and  independence  in  thinking  which 
are  the  necessary  characteristics  of  the  people  of  a  self-governed 
State." 

No  doubt  there  is  much  to  be  avoided  by  England  in  the  methods 
and  working  of  the  American  Common  Schools.  But  is  there  not 
also  much  that  may  be  prudently  imitated  ?  After  all,  we  English 

*  The  idea  of  Reading  Circles  and  Summer  Schools  has  recently  been  presented  to 
the  English  Public  through  the  attention  which  has  been  drawn  to  them  by  Dr.  Paton 
of  Nottingham,  Dr.  Percival  of  Rugby,  Professor  Stuart  and  others  (see  Dr.  Fitch's 
description  of  the  annual  summer  assembly  by  Chautauqua  Lake  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  for  October,  1888).  In  connection  with  the  University  Extension  Movement, 
a  somewhat  similar  "  Summer  School  "  meets  at  Oxford  for  its  third  session  in  August 
next. 

f  The  State  of  Mississippi,  see  Blue  Book,  Royal  Commission  on  Education  Acts, 
Foreign  Returns,  1888,  p.  273. 

J  Report  of  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education,  1888,  p.  77. 


104  STATE    EDUCATION. 

may  well  take  a  lesson  from  the  American  people  of  enthusiasm  for, 
and  a  genuine  belief  in,  education  as  a  civilizing  and  ennobling  force. 
No  one  in  America  fears  (secular)  education,  or  looks  with  dread 
upon  any  of  its  possible  consequences  to  society.  There  it  is 
reverenced,  deeply  reverenced,  as  a  saviour  of  society.  And  the 
teachers,  as  Education's  priesthood,  share  in  that  reverence,  and 
receive  accordingly  that  respect  and  deference  which  goes  so  iar  to 
compensate  priesthoods  all  the  world  over  for  meagre  material 
prospects  and  emoluments.  We  cannot  be  said  to  have  yet  learnt 
that  lesson  in  England. 

E.  F.  M.  MACCARTHY. 


PART     VII. 

NOTES    ON   EDUCATION   IN    CANADA   AND 
AUSTKALIA. 

I.  CANADA. 

IN  liis  "  Problems  of  Greater  Britain,"  Sir  Charles  Dilke  draws 
attention  to  the  fact — "  a  phenomenon,"  he  calls  it,  "  never  seen 
before  in  the  World's  history,  and  never  likely  to  be  seen  again  " — 
that  "two  countries  (the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of 
Canada)  with  a  common  frontier  4,000  miles  in  length,  three- 
fourths  of  which  is  an  artificial  frontier,  two  countries  under  diffe- 
rent flags,  inhabited  by  people  to  a  great  extent  of  identical  race, 
speaking  the  same  tongue,  and  each  governed  by  free  Federal 
institutions,  are  each  now  provided  with  independent  parallel  rail- 
way lines  of  communication"  from  ocean  to  ocean.  An  equally 
remarkable  phenomenon  is  exhibited  in  the  fact  that  each  of  these 
countries  is  provided  with  independent  systems  of  public  education, 
which  have  travelled,  along  with  these  peoples,  on  parallel  lines, 
ever  farther  and  farther  westward,  placing  Vancouver  educationally 
in  touch  with  Quebec,  and  San  Francisco  with  Boston.  And 
another  striking  fact — these  systems  are  not  only  independent,  but 
characteristically  different.  All  along  the  route  of  westward  move- 
ment of  the  population  in  the  United  States  one  traces  the  per- 
vading spirit  of  that  educational  system,  so  largely  (as  we  have 
shown  in  the  preceding  Article)  political  in  its  motive,  which  was 
set  up  by  the  Presbyterian  settlers  in  Massachusetts  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  ;  while  along  the  parallel  route  in  the  Dominion,  one 
is  constantly  reminded,  in  spite  of  distance  and  difference  of 
development,  of  the  methods  of  England  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
which,  when  the  century  was  still  quite  young,  grew  out  of  the 
educational  impulse  identified  with  the  names  of  Lancaster  and 
Bell,  and  finding  its  most  prominent  exponent  in  the  "  National 
Society,"  whose  headquarters  are  under  the  shadow  of  Westminster 
Abbey.*  At  one  point,  curiously  enough,  these  systems  almost 
touch.  On  the  Michigan  (U.S.A.)  side  of  the  Narrows,  through 

*  The  first  impulse  on  behalf  of  public  education  in  Lower  Canada  (Quebec)  was 
made  in  1787 ;  but,  owing  to  sectarian  differences,  no  general  plan  of  education  was 
set  on  foot  until  1841.  In  Upper  Canada  (Ontario)  the  first  legislative  enactment  in 
favour  of  general  education  was  passed  in  1807.  (See  Rev.  J.  Eraser's  Report,  Blue 
Book,  Schools  Inquiry  Commission,  1867.) 


106  STATE    EDUCATION. 

which  the  waters  of  Lake  St.  Clair  travel  on  their  way  to  Lake 
Erie,  stands  Detroit,  while  on  the  opposite  shore,  barely  one  mile 
across,  stands  Windsor  (Upper  Canada),  and  steam -ferries  ply 
hourly  between  the  two  towns ;  and  yet,  in  educational  as  in  other 
characteristics,  Windsor  smacks  of  Old  England,  but  Detroit  of 
New  England.  The  resemblances  to  England  are  sometimes  slight, 
and  not  visible  to  the  superficial  observer,  for  Upper  Canada  and 
New  Brunswick,  being  more  closely  in  geographical  contact  with 
the  United  States,  have  developed  and  perfected  their  systems  (in 
the  last  30  years)  on  New  England  rather  than  English  models, 
But  still  they  are  there — sometimes  it  is  the  architecture  of  a  school 
building,  sometimes  the  methods  of  a  Training  College ;  here  it  is 
the  "  standards  "  of  the  curriculum,  there  the  text-books  ;  but  even 
as  regards  Ontario  itself,  the  most  educationally  Americanized  (next 
perhaps  to  New  Brunswick)  of  the  Provinces  of  the  Dominion, 
the  writer  of  this  Article  was  told  at  Toronto,  its  capital,  that 
Canadian  Schools  were  not  visited  by  Englishmen  "  because  the 
amount  of  differentia  was  not  sufficient  to  justify  a  journey  all  that 
way." 

Each  Province  of  the  Dominion  enjoys  local  self-government, 
having  a  provincial  legislature  and  a  Lieutenant- Governor  ap- 
pointed by  the  Federal  (Dominion)  Government.  Counties,  town- 
ships and  municipalities  have  likewise  the  management  of  their 
own  aifairs,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  supreme  control  of  the 
Provincial  and  Dominion  legislatures.  Education  is  almost  entirely 
a  matter  under  provincial  and  local  control.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment has  very  little  power  in  its  hands,  except  to  keep  the  peace  in 
the  presence  of  religious  differences  by  securing  the  observance  of 
the  concordat  between  the  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics,  in  the 
Provinces  (chie%  Lower  Canada,  Upper  Canada  and  Manitoba) 
where  the  community  is  thus  divided  in  opinion.  In  Lower  Canada 
(Quebec  and  Montreal),  and  in  Manitoba  (Winnipeg),  the  law  runs 
that  "  whenever  in  any  municipality  the  regulations  and  arrange- 
ments of  any  school  are  not  agreeable  to  any  number  whatever  of 
the  inhabitants  professing  a  religious  faith  different  from  that  of  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants,"  the  inhabitants  so  dissentient  may 
appoint  their  own  trustees  who  shall  have  power  to  establish  and 
manage  "  dissentient  "  schools.  They  form  a  corporation,  consti- 
tute their  own  school  districts,  fix  and  collect  the  assessments  to  be 
levied  on  the  dissentient  inhabitants;  and  are  "entitled  to  receive, 
out  of  the  general  school  fund  appropriated  to  the  municipality,  a 
share  bearing  the  same  proportion  to  the  whole  sum  allotted  as  the 
number  of  children  attending  these  schools  bears  to  the  whole 
school  population  in  the  municipality :  and  a  similar  share  in  the 
building  grant."  * 

Practically,  though  this  concordat  makes  for  peace,  it  does  not 
always  secure  it.  The  reason  will  appear  from  consideration  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  city  of  Montreal.  There  the  School  popula- 
tion is  divided  between  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics  in  about 

*  Sec  Eev.  J.  Eraser's  Report  (Blue  Book),  pp.  308,  309. 


NOTES    ON    CANADA    AND    AUSTRALIA.         107 

the  ratio  of  28  to  72 ;  but  the  wealth  (to  which  the  taxation  bears 
a  direct  proportion)  of  the  two  communions  is  about  in  the  ratio  of 
50  to  50.  Consequently,  while  the  Protestants  would  contribute  one 
half  of  the  municipal  school  fund,  they  would  only  get  the  benefit  of 
a  little  more  than  one  quarter.*  They  further  complain  that, 
while  they  thus  largely  contribute  to  Roman  Catholic  schools,  these 
schools  give  the  children  only  a  bare  minimum  of  secular  instruc- 
tion, while  the  Protestant  schools  are  pinched  for  want  of  the  funds 
which  are  required  for  the  wider  and  more  intellectual  curriculum 
at  which  they  aim.  In  Upper  Canada  (Ontario)  the  liberty  to 
dissentients  of  establishing  separate  schools  is  more  circumscribed. 
There  "  Protestants  can  only  establish  a  separate  school  when  the 
teacher  of  the  common  school  is  a  Roman  Catholic,"  and  vice  versa. 

New  Brunswick — here,  as  elsewhere,  showing  distinct  signs  of 
American  influence — has  no  separate  schools  for  religious  denomina- 
tions, and  its  schools  are  by  law  required  to  be  unsectarian.  The 
Ontario  public  (protestant)  schools  are  also  largely  unsectarian  ; 
but  the  clergy  of  any  denomination,  or  their  authorised  representa- 
tives, have  the  right  to  give  religious  instruction  to  the  pupils  of 
their  own  church  in  each  schoolhouse  at  least  once  a  week,  after 
afternoon  school. 

Each  Provincial  Government  determines  the  main  outlines  of  the 
School  system  for  its  Province.  Acting  through  a  Department  of 
Education,  it  settles  what  Schools  or  Institutions  shall  be  main- 
tained, what  shall  be  the  duties  of  School  Boards  or  Trustees  of 
municipalities,  appoints  Public  School  Inspectors,  and  determines- 
the  qualifications  of  the  Teachers  to  be  employed,  and  awards 
Teachers'  Certificates  by  examination.  The  grant  at  its  disposal 
for  distribution  among  the  School  Boards  is  called  the  Legislative 
Grant. 

The  local  control  over  Education  on  the  lines  thus  laid  down  is- 
administered  by  School  Boards  or  Corporations  or  Trustees  (as  in 
the  United  States)  elected  by  the  ratepayers  of  the  city,  town, 
village  or  rural  school  "  section,"  as  the  case  may  be.  The  money 
locally  raised  for  educational  purposes  is  called  the  Municipal 
Grant. 

All  through  the  Dominion,  then,  the  public  schools  are  sup- 
ported (as  in  the  United  States)  by  a  Legislative  and  a  Municipal 
grant  (State  School  Fund  and  local  rate),  but,  unlike  the  United 
States,  the  scholars  are  not  free  in  every  Province.  In  Ontario, 
all  children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  can  at- 
tend school  free,  and  therefore  the  High  Schools  as  well  as  the 
Elementary  Schools  are  free.  The  Model  Schools  and  Training 
Colleges  are  also  open  free  to  bond  Jide  teachers  in  the  Province* 

*  This  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  the  "  city  school  tax "  has  been  partially 
remedied  at  Montreal  by  the  formation  of  separate  rating-lists  or  panels  ;  setting  out 
the  value  of  all  real  estate  belonging  to  (1)  Catholics,  (2)  Protestants,  (3)  Public 
Bodies  or  Neutrals.  The  rates  collected  on  the  Catholic  panel  are  handed  to  the 
Catholic  School  Board  (School  Commissioners),  and  similarly  to  the  Protestant  School 
Board,  but  the  amount  collected  from  property  entered  on  the  third  panel,  which  is  con- 
siderable, is  still  divided  between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Boards  in  proportion  to 
population. 


io8  STATE    EDUCATION. 

The  Universit}7  and  University  College  of  Toronto,  by  means  of 
Endowments,  "  Scholarship  Gifts,"  are  enabled  to  give  an  almost 
gratuitous  education  to  students.  In  the  Provinces  of  smaller 
population,  education  in  the  primary  schools,  and  also  in  the 
superior  and  grammar  schools  (where  they  exist)  is  free  to  all 
scholars  residing  in  the  school  area.  But  education  is  not  free  in 
Lower  Canada  (Quebec  and  Montreal),*  although  remission  of  the 
fee  is  readity  granted  on  the  plea  of  povert}7,  so  that,  in  Montreal, 
for  instance,  about  one-sixth  of  the  scholars  in  attendance  in  the 
public  schools  pay  no  fee.  It  is  also  provided  with  regard  to  the 
fees  charged  in  high  schools  in  that  city,  that,  if  fees  are  demanded 
at  all,  they  shall  be  so  moderate  in  amount  that  no  one  shall  be 
excluded  by  poverty.  Taking  population  into  account,  it  appears 
that  school  fees  are  payable  on  behalf  of  every  two  out  of  seven  of 
the  school  children  in  the  Dominion. 

Coming  next  to  compulsion,  the  law  itself  affecting  school  attend- 
ance is  widely  different  in  the  several  Provinces,  and  the  actual 
practice  still  more  divergent.  In  Ontario  and  the  four  smaller 
Provinces,  British  Columbia,  Manitoba,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island,  where  education  (as  has  been  stated)  is  free,  it 
is  also  compulsory;  but  in  New  Brunswick  (which  is  most  under 
United  States  influence),  where  education  is  free,  it  is  not  com- 
pulsory ;  and  in  Quebec,  where  it  is  not  free,  neither  is  it  compul- 
sor}7.  But  even  in  the  Provinces  which  have  compulsory  clauses  in 
their  Education  Laws,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  law  in 
this  respect  is  ever  put  into  force,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  fine,  and 
certainly  not,  in  any  case,  to  the  extent  of  imprisonment.  In 
Ontario,  however,  the  authorities  may  possibly  show  a  degree  of 
firmness  not  prevalent  elsewhere.  The  compulsory  law  in  that 
Province  provides  that  the  school  trustees  shall  impose  upon 
neglectful  parents  a  rate-bill  not  exceeding  a  dollar  per  month  for 
each  of  their  children  not  attending  school ;  and  the  school  trustees 
may  appoint  an  officer  to  ascertain  the  names  of  persons  violating 
the  Act  in  this  matter.  The  highest  penalty  is  a  fine  by  the  magis- 
trate not  exceeding  five  dollars  for  the  first  offence,  and  double  that 
penalty  for  every  succeeding  offence.  In  Prince  Edward  Island,  the 
method  exhibits  an  interesting  divergence  from  the  ordinal*}7  forms 
of  compulsory  attendance  law  : — the  Government  grant  being  paid 
on  average  attendance,  the  amount  of  this  grant  which  the  school 
board  loses  through  the  non-attendance  of  children  is  levied  upon 
the  parents  of  those  children. 

Throughout  the  Dominion  all  teachers  are  adults,  and  the  pupil- 
teacher  system  is  unknown.  Teachers  enter  the  profession,  males 
at  18  years  of  age  (usually),  and  females  at  16  ;  and  are  trained  in 
the  Normal  Schools,  which  are  supported  by  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ments ;  or  at  County  Model  Schools,  which  are  supported  at  the 

*  There  is  a  monthly  fee,  payable  compulsorily  by  the  parent,  for  every  child  from 
7  to  14  years  of  age  residing  in  the  municipality  and  capable  of  attending  school. 
This  fee  is  payable  for  eight  months  of  the  year,  and  is  levied  with  the  other  Assess- 
ments directly  upon  the  parents.  Bee  Foreign  Returns  (Blue  Book),  1888. 


NOTES    ON    CANADA    AND    AUSTRALIA.         109 

joint  cost  of  the  Municipality  and  the  Province.     They  receive  their 
professional  education  almost  entirely  free  of  cost  to  themselves. 

Very  little  has  as  yet  heen  done  in  Technical  Education  in  the 
Dominion ;  but  mention  should  be  made  of  the  excellent  work  in 
this  direction  done  at  the  School  of  Practical  Science,  the  Schools 
of  Art,  and  the  Agricultural  College  in  Ontario,  and  at  the  Poly- 
technic School,  Montreal. 


II.  AUSTRALIA. 

The  transition  from  the  British  Colonies  in  North  America  to  the 
British  Colonies  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere  is,  educationally,  a 
passage  from  State  systems  of  public  education  largely  tinged  with 
Denominationalism,  to  State  systems  which  are,  now,  universally 
undenominational  or  secular.  The  Australian  Colonies  are  essen- 
tially democratic,  and  so,  like  the  United  States,  they  all  base  their 
common  school  systems  on  the  principles  of  religious  freedom,  and 
the  non-establishment  of  any  particular  form  of  religious  belief.* 
But  the  Governments  in  Australia  are  more  distinctly  bureaucratic, 
and  less  decentralized,  than  those  in  the  Dominion ;  and  the  admin- 
istration of  Education  Law,  especially,  has  been  retained  in  the 
hands  of  a  central  Government  Department.  Consequently,  we 
find  that  those  local  influences  which  make  against  the  local 
initiation  of  penal  enforcements  of  neglected  parental  duties  have 
far  less  power,  and  school  attendance,  which  is  universally  com- 
pulsory, is  far  more  rigidly  enforced  than  in  the  Dominion  or  in  the 
United  States,  even  to  the  extent — unknown  in  English-speaking 
countries  except  England  itself — of  a  summons  before  a  police 
magistrate,  and  possible  imprisonment.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Colonies  of  Australia  share  with  the  Provinces  of  the  Dominion  in 
the  presence  of  a  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject  of  non-pay- 
ment of  school  fees.  Public  education  is  free  only  in  Victoria  and 
Queensland  (and  New  Zealand),  but  fees  are  charged  in  New  South 
Wales,  South  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  Western  Australia.! 

The  Central  Department  (called  the  Council  of  Education,  or 
Education  Department),  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  is  in 
each  Colony  or  Province  presided  over  by  a  Minister  of  Education, 
and  has  had  assigned  to  it  by  an  Act  of  the  Provincial  Legislature 


*  Religious  instruction  may,  under  certain  conditions,  be  given  out  of  the  ordinary 
school  hours  by  ministers  of  religion,  and  others,  to  children  whose  parents  are 
willing  that  they  should  receive  it.  In  South  Australia,  teachers  may  read  portions 
of  ScrFpture  in  the  authorized,  or  Douay  version,  to  such  scholars  as  may  be  sent  by 
their  parents  before  9'30  A.M.,  but  they  must  strictly  confine  themselves  to  Bible 
reading. 

f  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale,  in  his  "Impressions  of  Australia "  (see  Contemporary  Review 
Feb.,  1889),  makes  the  following  pertinent  comment  on  this  divergence  in  practice 
between  the  several  colonial  systems  : — "  Where  the  schools  are  free,  the  people  whom 
I  met  seemed  satisfied  that  they  should  remain  free  ;  where  fees  are  charged,  I  could 
not  hear  of  any  serious  agitation  for  their  abolition.  In  the  absence  of  large  masses 
of  extremely  poor  parents,  the  question  is  not  a  '  burning '  one.  There  are  no  such 
serious  administrative  difficulties  as  those  with  which  we  at  home  have  to  deal  in 
collecting  the  fees  and  in  discriminating  between  parents  who  are  able  to  pay  and 
parents  who  are  unable." 


I io  STATE    EDUCATION. 

the  determination  of  the  number  of  schools  required,  the  purchasing 
of  the  sites,  the  building  of  school  premises,  the  number  of  school 
hours  per  day  and  school  days  per  year,  the  amount  of  the  fee 
(where  charged),  the  course  of  instruction,  the  nature  of  the  school- 
staff,  the   appointment,  remuneration,  promotion,  and  dismissal  of 
teachers.      It   appoints    an    Inspector- General   and    Inspector   of 
Schools,  whose  functions  correspond  in  the  main  to  those  of  Her 
Majesty's  Inspectors  under  the  Education  Department  in  England, 
but  who  have  greater  power,  as  the  future  prospects  of  the  teachers 
depend   more   intimately   on   their   reports.      It   also    establishes, 
maintains  and  manages  Training  Colleges,  and  awards  the  several 
grades  of  Teachers'  Certificates,  on  the  results  of  general  and  special 
examinations  which  it  holds  for  that  purpose,  and  on  proved  skill 
in  actual  teaching.    The  powers  exercised  by  the  Education  Depart- 
ment of  an  Australian  Province  (or  Colony)  will  thus  be  seen  to  be 
much  more  extensive  in  scope  and  jurisdiction  than  those  of  the 
English  Education  Department,  or  of  the  Government  Department 
of  a  Province  of  the  Dominion.     The  functions,  therefore,  of  the 
local  educational  authorities  will  be  proportionately  smaller.     And 
this  is  plainly  indicated  by  their  title  :  they  are  simply  "  Boards  of 
Advice."     These  are  elected  by  the  local  ratepayers   in    Victoria 
alone ;    in    all    the    other  Provinces   they   are   appointed   by  the 
Governor.      Their   constitution   and    general   duties   are,    (1),    to 
exercise  general  supervision  over  educational  matters  in  their  school 
district,  and  report  to  the  Minister  of  Education  on  any  matters 
affecting  the  general  welfare  of  the  schools ;  (2),  to  maintain  the 
school  buildings  in  repair  out  of  funds  placed  to  their  credit  by  the 
Minister;  (3),  to  put  themselves  into  close  communication  with  the 
teachers,  and  to  intervene  in  any  cases  of  friction  between  them  and 
parents ;  (4),  to  determine  the  uses  which  ma3r  be  made  of  school 
buildings  out  of  school  hours;   (5),  (in  the  Provinces  where  fees  are 
charged),  to  consider  and  adjudicate  upon  all  applications  for  free 
education  and  for  reduction  of  fees,  subject  to  the  general  regulations 
of  the  Education  Acts  ;  and  (6),  to  see  to  the  effective  carrying  out 
of  the  compulsory  clauses  of  the  Acts,  by  summoning  parents  before 
the  Board,  and  ordering  such  legal  proceedings  as  may  be  neces- 
sary ;  but  all  legal  proceedings  are  conducted  by  officers  specially 
authorised  by  the  Minister,  after  receiving  the  recommendation  of 
the  Board  of  Advice.* 

The  prescribed  school  age  varies  in  the  different  Provinces.  In 
South  Australia  it  is  from  7  to  13,  in  Victoria  from  6  to  15,  in 
Tasmania  from  7  to  14,  in  New  South  Wales  from  6  to  14,  in 
Queensland  from  6  to  12.  In  South  Australia,  and  perhaps  else- 
where, the  children  may  attend  at  five  years  of  age,  and  Infant 
Schools  may  be  established  as  departments  of  public  schools  for 
children  between  five  and  seven.  The  public  schools  are  every- 
where in  Australia  strictly  elementary  schools,  but  South  Australia 

*  Sec  Acts  and  Regulations  of  the  Education  Department  for  South  Australia.  The 
duties  of  the  Boards  of  Advice  (or  Public  School  Boards)  in  the  other  Provinces  are 
defined  in  almost  identical  terms. 


NOTES    ON    CANADA    AND    AUSTRALIA.         in 

supports  an  Advanced  School  for  girls  to  meet  the  deficiency  in  the 
supply  of  high  school  education,  which  is  met  in  the  case  of  boys  by 
the  three  high  schools  at  Adelaide ;  and  the  New  South  Wales 
regulations  provide  that  if  in  any  public  school  a  class  can  be 
formed  of  not  less  than  twenty  pupils  who  have  reached  a  certain 
standard  of  attainment,  the  school  may  be  declared  a  "  superior 
public  school,"  and  in  addition  to  more  advanced  work  in  the 
ordinary  subjects,  boys  are  to  be  taught  mathematics,  Latin,  science, 
and  drawing,  and  the  girls,  French,  drawing,  and  sanitary  science.* 
Even  German  and  Greek  may  be  taught  in  these  superior  schools 
at  the  discretion  of  the  Minister  of  Education.  In  addition  to  the 
superior  public  schools,  New  South  Wales  supports  three  or  four 
regularly  organized  State  High  Schools.  Liberal  provision  is, 
however,  made  in  the  other  Colonies  for  the  passage  of  deserving 
scholars  from  the  public  schools  to  the  high  schools  which  have 
been  founded  by  denominational  bodies  or  by  private  persons,  and 
even  to  the  Universities,  by  means  of  Exhibitions,  Bursaries,  and 
Scholarships. 

There  is  one  leading  feature  of  the  Australian  public  school 
systems  which  differentiates  them  from  either  the  United  States  or 
the  Canadian  systems,  and  which  at  once  reflects  the  influence  of 
the  home  Country  upon  its  Colonies  in  the  Southern  seas,  and 
that  is,  the  presence  of  the  pupil-teacher.  In  South  Australia, 
candidates  for  pupil-teachership  may  be  admitted  at  13J  years  of 
age,  and  after  a  period  of  probation  go  through  a  further  term  of 
service  of  four  3rears,  unless  they  have  matriculated  at  Adelaide 
University  and  are  not  less  than  fifteen  years,  when  their  period  of 
service  may  be  reduced  to  three  years.  As  in  England,  they  are 
eligible  for  admission  to  a  Training  College  on  having  satisfactorily 
completed  their  term  of  apprenticeship.  Similar  regulations  are  in 
force  in  Victoria,  Queensland,  and  New  South  Wales. 

E.    F.    M.    MACCARTHY. 

*  These  have  been  established  in  most  of  the  large  towns  of  New  South  Wales. 
Formerly  a  special  fee  was  charged  for  these  subjects,  but,  as  it  was  found  that  the 
imposition  of  the  fee  acted  injuriously  upon  the  teachers,  and  prevented  many  children 
from  receiving  the  full  benefits  o£  this  provision,  the  fee  was  abolished.  See  the 
"  Schools  of  Greater  Britain,"  by  John  Kussell. 


••  •         '  "  .  ' 

---.-* 


PART    VIII. 

NOTE   ON   COMMERCIAL   EDUCATION. 

GREAT  BRITAIN  is  the  chief  trading  country  in  the  world.  Her 
merchants  and  shipowners  are  amongst  the  most  enterprising  and 
honourable  representatives  of  commerce  ;  her  mercantile  houses  are 
to  be  found  wherever  barter  exists  ;  and  yet  there  is  hardly  a  country 
in  Europe  where  so  little  attention  is  paid  to  Commercial  Education. 
There  has  been  undoubtedly  considerable  improvement  of  late  in 
the  preparation  of  our  youth  for  the  mercantile  career,  but  until 
recently  every  school  of  any  pretensions  was  a  "  Classical,  Com- 
mercial, and  Mathematical  Academy,"  where  the  Classics,  to  the 
exclusion  of  those  modern  languages  which  are  so  useful  in  every- 
day life,  consisted  of  reading  and  learning  oif  by  heart  a  little  of 
Virgil  or  Tacitus.  What  part  of  the  course  of  instruction  could 
be  called  "  Commercial"  it  is  difficult  to  say,  unless  it  was  writing 
and  arithmetic  up  to  vulgar  fractions,  decimals  being  a  novel  in- 
novation of  "  foreigners  "  ;  and  as  for  "  Mathematics  "  they  usually 
enabled  the  student  to  cross  the  bridge  upon  which  the  "  Claimant  " 
came  to  grief  and  nothing  more.  Even  now  a  lad  who  receives 
what  is  called  a  liberal  education,  and  who  is  supposed  to  be  training 
for  commerce,  generally  leaves  school  without  any  knowledge  of  book- 
keeping ;  in  modern  languages,  he  has  probably  acquired  a  smatter- 
ing of  French  and  German,  which  will  not  be  of  the  least  value  to  him 
in  practical  intercourse  with  foreigners  or  in  correspondence  ;  and 
in  consequence  of  the  useless  information  which  he  has  laboured  to 
acquire,  he  begins  his  commercial  career  under  less  favourable  con- 
ditions than  the  son  of  an  artizan  who  has  received  an  elementary 
education  at  a  Board  School.  That  parents  of  the  trading  classes 
are  beginning  to  appreciate  these  facts  any  reader  may  convince 
himself  by  inquiring  as  to  the  changes  in  relative  attendances  at 
Board  and  at  Proprietary  Schools,  for  he  will  find  that  the  attendances 
at  the  latter  have  fallen  off  in  many  of  our  large  towns,  notwith- 
standing the  increase  of  population,  whilst  the  children  of  the  lower 
middle  classes  are  crowding  into  our  Board  Schools,  not  only 
because  the  school  fees  are  lower,  but  because  the  practical  in- 
struction which  is  given  there  is  of  greater  value  as  a  commercial 
training.  Let  us  inquire  for  a  moment  how  these  inconsistencies  are 
to  be  explained,  and  why  the  commercial  education  of  our  youth 
is  so  greatly  neglected.  Does  it  not  arise  chiefly  from  the  very  pre- 
dominance which  we  enjoyed  amongst  the  trading  nations  of  the 
world  ?  A  preponderance  which  was  until  lately  so  unquestioned 


NOTE    ON    COMMERCIAL    EDUCATION.         113 

that  our  countrymen  abroad  hardly  took  the  trouble  to  learn  the 
languages  of  those  with  whom  they  traded.  It  was  their  business 
to  learn  our  language,  and  in  our  insular  hauteur  we  compelled  them 
to  do  so  if  they  wished  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  dealing  with  us. 
We  are  almost  the  only  trading  nation  that  adheres  to  its  old- 
fashioned  system  of  weights,  measures,  and  coinage,  and  for  no  other 
reason  than  the  repugnance  to  change  and  novelty.  In  one  or  two 
extensive  branches  of  trade,  as  the  corn  trade  for  example,  centals 
are  taking  the  place  of  the  "  hundred  weights  "  of  112  Ibs.,  and  florins 
were  superseding  half-crowns.  Now  and  then  you  meet  in  one  of 
our  offices  a  young  gentleman  who  has  spent  a  year  or  two  abroad, 
and  who  would  not  exchange  his  knowledge  of  French  or  German 
for  all  the  dead  languages,  but  as  a  rule  we  still  expect  foreigners 
to  adapt  themselves  to  our  customs,  to  our  metrical  system,  and 
to  our  language. 

And  if  he  is  insular  in  his  commercial  methods  John  Bull  is  equally 
eccentric  in  his  commercial  literature  and  phraseology,  and  it  will 
soon  be  as  difficult  to  teach  a  lad  the  jargon  of  the  markets  as  the 
language  of  neighbouring  nations.  It  is  a  kind  of  volapuk  which  is 
understood  alike  in  London  and  in  Liverpool,  in  Glasgow,  Cork  and 
Belfast.  Oats  are  "firm  "  and  sugar  is  "  steady  "  ;  oils  are  "  quiet  " 
and  lard  is  "  stiff"  ;  in  iron,  pigs  are  "  nominal  "  ;  in  dyes,  logwood 
is  "  strong,"  and  so  forth,  until  nearly  every  adjective,  appropriate 
or  otherwise,  is  imported  into  the  category.  But  when  the  trader 
gives  free  play  to  his  imagination,  or  soars  into  the  higher  regions  of 
rhetoric,  then  he  excels  himself !  "A  waiting  policy  is  being 
pursued"  by  the  holders  of  lambswool,  a  "profound  secrecy 
characterises  the  operations  in  the  cheese  market "  ;  whilst  "  the 
illusion  is  dispelled  "  in  the  tobacco  trade,  and  "  operators  are  rising 
to  the  occasion  "  ! 

Changes  are,  however,  taking  place  in  the  relations  between  the 
trading  nations  of  the  world  and  between  the  classes  of  producers 
and  consumers  which  will  necessitate  corresponding  changes  in  all 
our  commercial  methods.  The  old-fashioned  ways  are  no  longer 
suited  to  telegraph  and  telephone ;  middle-men  are  being  gradually 
displaced,  and  the  producer  abroad  is  entering  into  direct  relations 
with  the  consumer  at  home,  or  vice  versa ;  the  travellers  of  one 
nationality  are  invading  the  trading  ground  and  securing  the  con- 
nection of  neighbouring  peoples ;  and  the  German  who  knows 
English  enjoys  a  great  advantage  over  the  Englishman  who  does 
not  know  German.  Only  recently  the  Consuls  in  one  of  the  newly 
enfranchised  States  of  South-Eestern  Europe  sent  home  reports 
that  English  manufactures  are  being  supplanted  by  those  of  Austria, 
although  the  latter  are  of  inferior  quality,  through  the  pursuasiveness 
of  "polyglot  "  Austrian  commercial  travellers.  In  this  country  the 
demand  for  French,  German,  Spanish,  and  Italian  correspondents  is 
increasing  rapidly,  and,  owing  to  the  ignorance  of  our  own  youth,  it 
is  found  necessary  to  engage  young  clerks  from  abroad  who  are 
prepared  to  serve  for  low  salaries,  or  even  in  many  cases  gratuitously, 
as  "  volunteers,"  in  order  that  they  may  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  our  systems  of  trade,  and  may  thus  gain  access  to  our  markets* 

VOL.  i.  i 


ii4  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Here  and  there  an  enterpising  English  firm  may  be  found  carrying 
the  war  into  the  enemy's  country  and  sending  some  accomplished 
member  of  the  house  abroad  to  deal  direct  with  continental  con- 
sumers, and  no  one  who  is  paying  the  least  attention  to  the  subject 
can  fail  to  see  that  if  we  are  to  maintain  our  prestige  as  a  trading 
nation,  the  youth  of  this  country  must  receive  a  practical  commercial 
education,  and  Latin  and  Greek  must  give  place  in  our  ordinary 
schools  to  French,  German,  and  other  modern  languages.  As  the 
Lord  Mayor  recently  remarked  at  a  meeting  which  was  held  in  the 
Mansion  House  to  promote  Commercial  Education,  the  question  has 
becomeone  of  "bread  and  butter,"  and  it  is  well  that  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  metropolis  are  alive  to  its  importance.  The  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce  has  made  a  commencement  in  the  right  direction,  the 
great  collegiate  schools  of  the  Metropolis  have  been  enlisted  in  the 
cause,  a  couple  of  hundred  leading  firms  have  agreed,  in  the  engage- 
ment of  clerks,  to  give  a  preference  to  youths  who  possess  certificates 
of  competency  in  commercial  knowledge,  and  there  is  little  doubt 
that  if  the  movement  spreads,  if  the  course  of  instruction  is  sound, 
and  if  the  young  gentlemen  who  succeed  in  obtaining  certificates,  don't 
give  themselves  airs  of  superiority  when  they  enter  into  practical 
life,  they  will  not  only  secure  more  lucrative  employment  at 
home,  but  will  be  found  occupying  situations  of  trust  in  foreign 
countries. 

It  is  not  sufficient  to  teach  young  people  to  read  and  write  French 
and  German,  but  they  should  be  taught  to  speak  them  fluently;  they 
should  be  made  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  weights,  measures, 
and  coinages  of  the  most  important  trading  countries,  with  exchanges 
and  bookkeeping  ;  they  should  learn  shorthand,  and  be  able  to  make 
rapid  calculations  by  the  decimal  system.  In  driving  a  bargain  a 
smart  German  or  Frenchman  will  often  make  a  calculation  of  profit 
or  loss  before  a  slow  Englishman  fully  comprehends  what  is  pro- 
posed. As  for  geography  and  a  knowledge  of  the  products  of 
various  countries,  those  are  now  better  taught  in  many  of  our  Board 
Schools  than  in  Colleges  and  High  Schools  for  the  upper  classes. 

Where  a  youth  is  preparing  to  enter  any  particular  branch  of 
commerce  or  industry  he  cannot  be  too  early  familiarised  with  such 
details  as  are  likely  to  be  of  use  to  him  in  after  life.  It  is  not  at  all 
unusual  to  meet  with  clever  French  or  German  traders  who  possess 
a  good  technical  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  manufacturing  uses  of 
the  substances  in  which  they  deal,  and  even  a  fair  general  ac- 
quaintance with  the  manufacturing  processes  of  their  customers; 
such  men  are  not  likely  to  throw  away  new  products  in  ignorance  of 
their  value  to  the  manufacturer.  Economic  botany  (which  is  already 
taught  in  some  of  our  best  Board  Schools),  zoology,  chemistry,  &c., 
will  ere  long  form  a  necessary  part  of  a  purely  commercial  education. 

And  there  are  one  or  two  other  aspects  of  this  question  which  are 
entitled  to  a  passing  notice.  We  hear  a  good  deal  about  the  danger 
of  divorcing  religion  from  education,  and  great  pains  are  taken, 
especially  in  our  denominational  schools,  to  impart  accurate  know- 
ledge in  the  three  C's,  creeds,  catechisms,  and  ceremonial.  No 
doubt  the  moral  virtues  are  also  inculcated,  but  does  it  ever  occur 


NOTE    ON    COMMERCIAL    EDUCATION.         115 

to  the  teacher  to  impress  upon  the  young  that  a  lie  is  a  lie  under 
whatever  circumstances  it  may  be  uttered ;  that  is  it  no  less  cul- 
pable, however  common  it  may  be,  to  misrepresent  the  value  or  quality 
of  an  article  of  produce  offered  for  sale,  or  to  mis-state  any  fact  or 
circumstance  relating  to  a  bargain  for  the  purpose  of  securing  some 
advantage  in  trade,  than  it  is  to  mislead  a  teacher  or  parent  by  a 
falsehood  uttered  to  screen  a  fault  or  to  escape  punishment  ?  There 
never  was  a  more  abominable  maxim  in  trade  than  "  Caveat 
emptor,"  and  it  will  be  far  better  to  teach  a  child  in  its  earliest  years 
that  the  motto  of  a  true  merchant  should  be  honesty,  truthfulness  and 
plain  dealing  with  one's  neighbour.  A  great  advantage,  too,  to  the 
cause  of  education  generally,  will  be  the  partial  if  the  not  complete 
substitution  of  the  living  for  the  dead  languages,  the  application  of 
arithmetic  to  the  transactions  of  actual  trade,  and  the  study  of  the 
productions  of  different  climes  in  their  natural  as  well  as  in  their 
manufactured  state,  inasmuch  as  they  will  lend  an  attractiveness  to 
school  hours  which  they  do  not  at  present  possess.  Indeed,  every 
consideration  and  all  the  circumstances  and  changes  in  modern 
civilised  life  call  for  an  improved  course  of  instruction  as  a  pre- 
paration for  a  mercantile  career,  and  none  will  be  rendering  a  greater 
service  to  their  country  than  those  merchants  and  others  connected 
with  our  trade  and  manufacturing  industries  who  employ  their 
means  and  influence  to  secure  so  desirable  an  object. 


PART    IX. 

THE  EDUCATION  AND  STATUS  OF  WOMEN. 

THE  task  has  been  deputed  to  me  to  treat  of  the  status  of  women 
in  civilised  countries,  as  illustrated  by  their  condition  in  France, 
England,  and  America,  and  to  show  in  what  degree  the  material 
improvement  thereof  is  related  to  the  progress  of  education.  If  by 
education  High  Schooling  is  meant,  there  would  not  be  much  to  say 
in  regard  to  France,  the  Camille  See  law  for  girls'  secondary  instruc- 
tion only  dating  from  1880.  This  law  will  doubtless,  when  looked 
back  to  by  future  generations,  mark  a  new,  and  there  is  room  for 
hoping,  glorious  epoch  in  French  national  life.  But  up  to  its  date 
French  women  owed  little  to  school  tuition,  and  a  good  deal  to  their 
personal  ambition,  mothers'  wit,  sprightliness,  grace,  persevering 
courage,  and  practical  good  sense.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  the 
French  woman  frivolous.  She  is  practical  in  taking  the  world  as 
she  finds  it.  When  a  small  class  of  idle  men  held  the  all -power, 
they  did  not  want  helpmates,  but  amusing  mistresses.  The  demand 
was  supplied,  and  with  so  much  talent  that  fashionable  idlers  all  the 
world  over  looked  to  Paris  for  hints  and  ideas  when  ttiey  wanted  to 
give  zest  and  elegance  to  frivolity.  Women  kept  at  the  head  and 
front  of  French  civilisation,  and,  indeed,  of  European,  until  a  system 
sprung  up  of  higher  education  for  boys,  in  which  girls  had  no  part. 

But  before  going  further  into  the  subject  of  education  in  its 
bearings  on  the  status  of  women  in  France,  it  may  be  well  to  glance 
at  the  place  women  have  held  in  that  country  from  the  earliest 
historical  times. 

We  find  that  among  the  Gallic  Celts  women  were  high-hearted, 
intrepid,  and  the  inspirers  and  helpmates  of  the  men.  They  helped, 
not  because  they  were  forced  like  Indian  squaws  in  the  wigwam,  but 
because  such  was  their  good  pleasure.  Having,  as  Joan  of  Arc  said 
of  their  high  standing,  at  the  coronation  of  King  Charles,  helped  to 
bear  the  brunt,  it  was  only  right  that  they  should  share  the  reward. 
When  the  chiefs  went  to  battle,  their  ladies  and  hand-maidens 
followed  them  to,  in  miry  ground,  push  forward  the  chariot  wheels. 
Savagery  had  no  part  in  this  helpful  courage.  Gallic  female  slaves 
in  Rome  were  most  sought  after  by  patrician  dames  to  serve  as  tire- 
maidens,  they  being  deft,  tasteful,  and  inventive.  As  religious 
martyrs  when  Christianity  dawned,  they  led  the  way.  Long  before 
Saint  Blandine's  martyrdom,  druidesses  were  venerated  as  sacred 
beings.  Imperial  Rome  did  not  counteract  in  Gaul  the  race 
tendency  of  the  Celt  to  place  women  on  the  highest  social  plane,  or 
rather  to  let  them  rise  to  their  own  level.  The  Roman  patrician 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  117 

lady  filled  a  great  place  in  the  general  Roman  life,  was  mistress  of 
her  own  fortune  (save  the  dotal  part),  and  enjoyed  liberty  pushed  to 
the  degree  of  licence.  We  may  suppose  that  either  the  Franks  were 
the  German  tribes  which  Tacitus  best  knew,  or  that  the  Roman 
historian  knew  little  of  the  domestic  usages  of  the  Germans.  That 
Salic  law,  which  the  Franks  hastened  to  declare  as  soon  as  they 
overran  the  Gallo-Roman  country,  does  not  bear  out  the  character 
which  Tacitus  gave  their  forefathers.  It  was,  on  the  other  hand, 
very  Gallic  of  Clo tilde  at  once  to  turn  it. 

Gaul  and  Rome  thus  worked  to  give  French  women  power  outside 
laws  and  constitutions.  This  power  has  been  used  in  general  to 
embellish  national  life,  and  to  toughen  the  moral  fibre  of  the  people. 
It  went  into  every  national  movement,  bloomed  out  in  the  Mariolatry 
of  the  middle  ages,  which  bore  the  fruit  of  chivalry,  and  it  was 
the  cause  of  the  first  crusade.  All  historians,  so  far  as  I  know, 
overlook  this  cause.  It  lay  in  a  Russian  princess,  the  daughter 
of  a  Byzantine  Emperor,  being  called  to  wear  the  crown 
matrimonial  of  France.  Her  mother  took  to  Moscow  her  sacred 
images  and  relics,  and  had,  we  may  assume,  that  yearning  for  the 
Holy  places  which  became  a  neurosis  of  the  women  of  the  Lower 
Empire.  Long  before  Joan  of  Arc,  maids,  supposed  to  be  in- 
spired, were  employed  to  serve  as  standard-bearers  of  French 
armies,  and  to  advise  and  admonish  kings  and  great  nobles.  Their 
intuition  was  believed  in.  They  were  called  voyantes,  or  seeresses, 
were  deemed  heaven-sent,  and  sacred  as  long  as  they  remained  pure. 
Impure,  they  were  limbs  of  Satan.  There  was  no  prejudice  in 
ancient  France  against  the  foreign  woman.  Blanche  of  Castille  was 
submitted  to,  and  waged  successfully  a  seven  years'  war  against  the 
vassals  of  the  crown.  She  was  the  first  female  Regent,  and  had 
common  traits  with  Isabella  of  Castille,  who  is  to  be  the  tutelary 
divinity  of  the  next  Universal  Exhibition  in  the  United  States, 
because  the  American  ladies  so  desire. 

Three  women,  Yolande,  Queen  of  Sicily,  Duchess  of  Anjou,  and 
Countess  of  Provence  (nee  Princess  of  Lorraine),  Agnes  Sorel,  and 
Joan  of  Arc,  fill  the  reign  of  Charles  VII.  Yolande  had  the  strongest 
political  head  of  her  time,  and  despised  no  means,  however  humble, 
to  compass  her  ends,  one  of  which  was  to  make  her  son-in-law  Charles 
the  overlord  of  the  King  of  England.  Anne  of  Beaujon,  her  great 
granddaughter,  inherited  her  brains,  and  ruled  with  a  gentle  temper 
and  a  firm  hand  through  the  minority  of  Charles  VIII.  Feminine 
influence  was  not  brilliantly  asserted  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XII.,  but 
Anne  of  Brittany,  an  obstinate  little  woman,  took  her  head  never- 
theless. Francis  I.  was  a  ladies'  man,  all  deference  for  his  mother, 
whose  vices  he  overlooked,  fixing  his  eyes  only  on  her  statesman-like 
capacities,  and  loved  with  tender  and  admiring,  though  a  selfish  and 
exacting  affection,  that  Pearl  of  Pearls,  his  sister  Margaret.  A 
maxim  of  Francis's  was  that  a  court  without  ladies  was  like  a  spring 
without  flowers.  Clouet's  portraits  show  how  the  riches  of  the  east, 
of  Genoa,  Venice,  and  the  Low  Countries  were  lavished  on  the  dress 
of  those  who  held  a  high  social  status  in  the  reign  of  Francis.  Their 
head-light  was  great  for  the  time.  There  was  a  Ladies'  Peace,  which 


Ii8  STATE    EDUCATION. 

delivered  Christendom  from  the  evils  of  war,  and  the  king  from 
captivity.  The  Higher  Learning  was  first  brought  into  fashion  by  the 
fair  negotiators  of  this  peace — a  fashion  which  spread  to  England, 
and  directed  the  early  growth  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  mind,  and 
indirectly  her  reign.  Grand  ladies  were  as  proud  of  their  manuscript 
editions  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors  as  of  their  jewels.  Even  those 
who  devoted  themselves  to  the  king's  pleasure  had  choice  libraries. 
The  wreckage  of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  which  has  come  down  the 
stream  of  time  to  our  day,  is  keenly  hunted  after  by  bibliophiles. 
Diane's  mental  culture  explains  why  she  was  first  in  the  exercise  of 
power  through  two  reigns.  A  woman  of  beauty  and  of  mind  is  not 
to  be  toyed  with  like  a  doll  and  then  cast  aside. 

Catherine  de  Medici,  the  Lady  Macbeth  of  French  history,  was 
not  worse  than  her  age,  and  had  a  theory  of  government  which  she 
steadily  kept  in  view,  and  which  in  after  ages  enabled  France  to 
withstand  the  German  Empire.  National  unity,  as  opposed  to  the 
feudalism  of  the  Guises  and  Montmorencies,  and  the  federalism  of  the 
South  and  of  the  Protestant  nobles,  was  her  objective.  This  foreign 
woman  was  uppermost  in  two  reigns  and  in  the  part  of  a  third. 
Her  only  serious  rival  in  her  long  widowhood  was  another  foreign 
Princess,  Mary  Stuart.  They  were  both  women  of  great  mental 
parts.  Mary  had  brilliancy,  beauty,  and  superior  birth,  the  Medici 
in  the  recollection  of  old  people  in  Catherine's  time  having  been 
dealers  in  quack  medicines,  and  having  made  most  money,  like  all  the 
druggists  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  dealers  in  la  poudre  de  succession. 

Gambetta  was  fond  of  following  the  bright  trace  women  left  in  all 
ages  in  French  history.  He  maintained  that  they  in  all  cases  owed 
their  power  to  their  personal  efforts.  The  great  merit  of  French- 
men was  in  Gambetta's  estimation  having  recognised  these  efforts. 
Madame  de  Sevigne  was  the  letter-writer,  we  know  her  because  her 
girlhood  was  serious,  and  she  faced  trouble  in  a  brave  spirit,  burying 
herself  for  years  at  a  time  in  the  wilds  of  Brittany  to  be  the  steward 
of  her  youthful  son's  estate.  Her  pastimes  were  country  work, 
reading,  meditation,  and  correspondence.  Madame  de  Maintenon 
was  raised  to  wifehood  with  the  King,  for  being  of  a  cultivated 
mind,  sagacious,  and  mistress  of  herself  under  all  circumstances. 

The  first  attempt  to  give  regular  school  instruction  to  girls  of 
high  family  was  made  by  Saint  Marie  de  Chantal,  grandmother  of 
Madame  de  Sevigne,  in  the  foundation  of  the  Visitandines  Convents. 
But  there  being  no  body  of  trained  teachers,  not  much  was  to  be 
learned  in  the  schoolrooms  of  these  houses.  Catechism,  reading, 
writing,  enough  of  mythology  to  understand  the  great  painters, 
dancing,  curtseying,  and  fancy  needlework,  were  thought  enough  for 
the  culture  of  young  minds  which,  however,  might  have  run  to  weed, 
but  were  not  warped.  Madame  de  Maintenon  and  her  friend  Arch- 
bishop Fenelon  deplored  the  uneducated  state  of  women  of  quality 
in  their  time.  The  former  (as  Gambetta  liked  to  remind  his  friends 
when  he  made  up  his  mind  to  help  forward  a  scheme  for  higher 
education  for  girls)  made  educational  experiments  at  temporary 
schools  which  she  set  up  and  directed  herself  in  those  hours  which 
she  was  able  to  steal  from  the  King.  These  trials  encouraged  her 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  119 

to  found  St.  Cyr  for  250  daughters  of  poor  and  noble  families. 
Her  plan  of  education  was  solid,  and  did  not  exclude  brilliant 
accomplishments.  What  should  we  now  think  were  Lord  Tennyson 
to  write  a  religious  drama  meant  to  elevate  taste  and  feeling, 
strengthen  faith  and  refine  diction,  and  cultivate  the  sweet  voices  of 
the  young,  for  Girton,  and  Her  Majesty  and  the  Royal  Family 
to  go  and  see  the  students  play  it.  This  is  what  Racine  did  for 
St.  Cyr,  where  the  King  and  Court  witnessed  the  first  represen- 
tations of  "Esther,"  with  its  lovely  canticles,  and  of  "  Athalie." 
Limits  of  age  were  from  ten  to  seventeen,  and  the  outgoing  pupil 
received  a  slender  dowry,  which  her  education  helped  her  to  turn  to 
account.  Reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  mythology,  history,  geo- 
graphy, dancing,  music,  singing,  and  drawing,  were  taught.  Senior 
pupils  were  expected  to  wash  and  dress  the  little  ones,  and  mend 
and  make  for  them,  the  mistresses  and  servants  to  keep  house 
accounts,  and  take  turns  in  the  kitchen,  laundry,  and  in  floor- 
scrubbing.  Lafayette's  mother  graduated  at  St.  Cyr.  Eliza,  the 
only  sister  of  Bonaparte  whose  head  was  not  turned  by  rising  to  a 
throne,  was  brought  up  there  also.  Napoleon  found  at  St.  Cyr  his 
model  for  daughters  of  Knights  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 

Under  the  Ancient  Monarchy  ladies  of  illustrious  birth  only  were 
on  view  as  governing  influences.  Rousseau  seems,  towards  the 
Revolution,  to  have  quickened  the  middle-class  womanhood  of  the 
country  and  raised  them  to  a  higher  state  of  feeling,  and  to  nobler 
ambition.  We  find  proof  of  this  in  Madame  Roland's  life,  and  the 
diaiy  kept  by  Lucille  Desmoulins  before  her  marriage.  Later, 
under  the  spur  of  misery,  the  labouring- class  women  burst  out  and 
precipitated  the  Revolution.  Moved  by  pity,  vanity,  and  a  longing 
for  quiet  after  the  storm,  the  women  of  Thermidor  hastened 
reaction.  Both  classes  were  ignorant.  But  absolute  ignorance 
was  less  unfavourable  to  the  feminine  status  than  the  semi-instruc- 
tion given  since  1815  in  the  high-class  convents.  The  former  did  not 
twist  the  female  mind  and  place  it  out  of  touch  with  those  of  the 
other  sex. 

On  the  morrow  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  Bonaparte  wrote  to 
his  brother :  "  Women  alone  deserve  to  govern  here.  The  men 
have  no  will  of  their  own,  and  do  nothing  but  what  the  women  tell 
them.  They  see  through  the  women's  eyes,  follow  their  advice,  and 
live  to  please  them."  Bonaparte  followed  the  crowd  for  a  while  in 
seeing  through  Josephine's  eyes.  He  then  made  war  on  all  women 
who  ventured  to  have  strong  opinions.  Maternal  love  was  sure  to 
rise  in  rebellion  against  his  hecatombs,  and  so  it  rose.  He  said, 
after  Waterloo,  "  I  fell  because  all  the  women  were  against  me." 

The  Constituant,  Convention  and  Legislative,  decreed  equal  civil 
and  educational  rights  to  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls.  Two 
churchmen,  Talleyrand  and  the  .Abbe  Desrandes,  who  were  used  to 
the  corrupt  and  uneducated  women  of  rank  of  the  fallen  Monarchy, 
thought  them  delightful.  But  they  also  thought  it  better  that  they 
should  not  have  the  power  that  education  secures.  Charged  by  the 
Constituant  to  draw  up  a  scheme  for  public  instruction,  they  reported 
that'  in  theory  men  and  women  had  equal  rights,  but  that  in  practice 


120  STATE    EDUCATION. 

women  served  their  interests  in  waiving  them.  The  home  was  the 
best  school  for  girls,  and  the  mother  the  best  teacher.  This  doctrine 
was  not  accepted,  and  it  was  proposed  to  teach  girls  and  boys  alike, 
and  the  former  handicrafts  suitable  to  their  sex.  A  decree  embodied 
this  proposal.  The  Legislative  ordered  another  report  on  public 
schools ;  Condorcet  was  the  reporter.  He  recommended  for  both 
boys  and  girls  secondary  State  schools.  Lakanel  and  Carnot 
studied  a  scheme  of  national  education  which  should  be  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  workshop,  the  farm,  the  dairy,  &c.  Wherever  there 
was  a  schoolmaster  there  should  be  a  schoolmistress.  Each  school 
was  to  have  a  boys'  and  a  girls'  division.  The  technical  instruction 
was  to  be  different.  War  absorbing  all  available  funds,  this  scheme 
fell  through.  On  founding  the  Empire,  Bonaparte  decreed  primary 
schools  for  boys,  set  apart  no  money  for  them,  and  did  not  deign  to 
notice  working-class  girls. 

It  has  been  constantly  brought  against  French  women  of  our  day 
that  they  love  despotism  and  darkness.  This  charge  is  unfair.  For 
more  than  two  hundred  years  there  has  been  a  great  and  continuous 
organised  movement,  showing  itself  under  different  forms,  to  give 
head-light  to  boys.  The  religious  orders  began  it,  and  kept  it  up 
until  the  Revolution.  Ecclesiastics  imparted  most  of  the  higher 
instruction,  and  in  no  narrow  or  warping  spirit.  This  we  may 
deduce  from  what  Voltaire  and  d'Argenson  thought  of  their  pre- 
ceptors. Girls  were  neglected.  Sometimes,  if  they  married  men  of 
education  who  treated  them  well,  they  picked  up  more  than  a  gloss 
of  scholarship.  Madame  de  Boufflies  was  an  instance.  Occasionally 
paternal  affection,  as  in  the  case  of  Madame  Campan,  led  fathers  to 
be  their  daughters'  tutors.  Sometimes  girls  longed  to  rise  to  high 
intellectual  consciousness,  and  educated  themselves,  as  in  the  case 
of  Madame  Roland.  Madame  de  Stael's  mental  training  in  girlhood 
was  unique,  and  she  was  detested  by  the  ladies  of  the  Court  for  the 
brilliancy  of  her  mind.  But  there  was  a  general  forward  movement 
for  many  generations  of  boyhood  towards  the  light,  while,  on  the 
whole,  girlhood  was  kept  stationary.  The  mental  state  of  the  fair  sex 
explains  why  it  was  that  for  every  step  which  French  men  advanced, 
after  the  Revolution,  the  upper  class  and  bourgeois  women  dragged 
them  back  another.  Napoleon  gave  France  a  national  system  of 
higher  instruction  for  boys.  He  did  nothing  beyond  the  creation  of 
three  Legion  of  Honour  schools  for  girls. 

Napoleon  fell.  A  Court,  soured  by  the  hardships  of  a  long 
exile,  and  hating  every  work  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  its  18th 
century  precursors,  took  his  place.  All  Jay  teachers  were  obliged 
by  a  law  passed  under  Louis  XVIII.  to  undergo  test  examinations 
of  capacity,  and  to  obtain  at  them  diplomas.  The  examination 
standards  were  high.  At  the  first  blush  this  would  seem  a  public 
benefit.  But  it  was  merely  intended  to  throw  education  into  the 
hands  of  the  religious  orders,  who  at  once  began  to  spring  up. 
Members  of  sisterhoods  had  only  to  show  certificates  of  obedience 
to  a  Superior  in  setting  up  to  teach,  to  be  dispensed  from  showing 
diplomas.  They  soon  swarmed.  Laics  were  kept  out  of  the 
field  by  the  close  combinations  into  which  the  convents  entered 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  121 

with  each  other.  Few,  also,  were  the  rewards  offered  to  the  lay 
schoolmistress,  and  the  cost  of  preparing  a  girl  for  a  teacher's 
diploma  fell  heavy  on  her  family.  Conventual  schools  under 
the  old  monarchy  did  not  give  feminine  education  a  polemical 
bias.  Submission  to  the  Catholic  Church  and  monarchy  were  taken 
for  granted,  and  young  minds  were  not  influenced  for  or  against 
political  institutions.  It  was  far  otherwise  after  1815.  In  the  reign 
of  Louis  Philippe  there  was  no  primary  State  instruction  for  girls. 
M.  Guizot,  who  venerated  his  mother,  and  had  a  blue-stocking  wife, 
attempted,  in  bringing  in  his  bill  for  primary  instruction,  to 
endow  every  commune  with  a  boys'  and  girls'  school.  But  he  was 
only  able  to  legislate  for  the  boys.  The  Queen,  a  Neapolitan 
Princess,  was  devout  according  to  the  manner  of  her  country.  She 
was  secretly  brought  round  to  oppose  the  bill,  which  was  greatly 
docked  in  the  clauses  that  dealt  with  boys'  schools,  whilst  those 
dealing  with  girls  were  suppressed  altogether.  The  King,  in  his 
Cabinet  Council,  said  to  his  ministers,  "  Gentlemen,  whatever  you 
do,  don't  make  me  quarrel  with  my  wife."  The  device  hit  upon  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  M.  Guizot  was  want  of  money.  Just  the  same 
amount  was  voted  for  boys'  schools  that  had  been  granted  as  an 
appanage  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  All  such  schools  in  1833  were 
dens,  and  nests  of  contagious  diseases.  As  to  High  Schools  for 
girls  nobody  dreamt  of  them  at  that  date.  Protestant  families  sent 
their  daughters  to  Lausanne,  which  became  a  sort  of  collegiate  town 
for  women.  Catholics  relegated  theirs  to  convents,  of  which,  touching 
some  points,  much  good  should  be  said,  and  will  be  said  further  on. 

On  a  highly  educated  German  Princess,  Helena  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin,  being  placed  by  her  marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
on  the  highest  step  of  the  French  throne,  women  of  means  began 
to  feel  ashamed  of  their  ignorance.  Her  mind  was  steeped  in  what 
was  best  in  the  literatures  of  Germany,  France,  and  England.  She 
was  pensive,  and  sought  to  rise  above  the  flatness  of  Court  life 
through  intercourse  with  Victor  Hugo,  Guizot,  Michelet,  Cousin, 
and  would,  if  she  had  dared,  have  brought  Edgar  Quinet  into  her 
circle.  From  this  she  was  debarred  by  the  agitation  to  which  his 
lectures  at  the  College  of  France  gave  rise  among  the  Clergy,  and 
the  consequent  suspension  of  them.  Quinet  was  a  man  of  a  religious 
soul,  and  it  might  be  said  of  the  Duchess  of  Orleans  as  Madame  de 
Stael  said  of  Schiller,  "  elle  avait  la  nostalgic  du  del." 

A  Madame  Bachellery,  a  protegee  of  M.  and  Madame  de  Lamar- 
tine,  was  the  first  to  awake  to  the  need  of  a  high  class  of  schools 
taught  by  laics  for  girls.  She  set  up  a  day-school,  in  which  she 
was  aided  by  all  the  illustrious  men  of  liberal  minds  who  took  an 
interest  in  educational  questions.  Her  staff  of  professors  caused 
her  house  to  be  nicknamed  by  her  friends  "  Le  Petit  College  de 
France."  Omnibusses  were  chartered  by  her  to  fetch  pupils  to  and 
from  the  classes.  She  originally  planned  the  high  schools  now 
existing  under  the  Camille  See  law,  and  wanted  Lamartine  and 
Carnot  to  turn  the  Chateau  and  Pare  de  Monceau  into  a  normal 
school  for  high-class  governesses.  The  reactionist  press  attacked 
her,  and  she  ultimately  fell.  But  imitators  arose.  Pensionnats, 


122  STATE    EDUCATION. 

where  out-door  pupils  were  taken  in,  sprang  up,  as  did  also  classes. 
However,  the  courses  were  not  of  a  kind  to  nourish,  strengthen,  and 
heautify  young  intellects.  History  was  a  mere  dictionary  of  dates 
and  names,  and  dealt,  unless  in  the  upper  classes,  entirely  with 
France.  In  the  geography  classes,  a  general  sketch  of  the  world 
was  given.  But  when  details  were  to  be  gone  into,  they  were  re- 
duced to  a  list  of  French  watersheds,  rivers,  chief  and  county  towns. 
Occasionally  a  Professor  who  was  moved  by  a  love  of  young  souls 
put  life  into  these  dry  bones,  and  awoke  and  nourished  mental 
faculties  in  his  pupils.  The  late  M.  Kichard  Cortambert  was  one 
of  these  teachers,  who  seemed  to  have  a  mission  from  on  high.  A 
M.  Alvarez  Levy  founded  also  classes  on  which  there  was  an  extra- 
ordinary run,  he  having  perfected  the  dry  bones  system,  using  it 
successfully  to  coach  young  girls  wanting  to  obtain  teachers' 
diplomas,  or  to  give  others  the  means,  without  much  learning,  to 
pass  off  for  having  a  great  deal.  A  generation  of  mere  parrots  were 
turned  out  in  these  classes.  Families  who  were  not  Voltairian, 
Jew,  or  Protestant,  continued,  when  at  all  rich,  to  send  their  girls 
to  convent  boarding-schools.  The  convents  stood  in  vast  gardens. 
That  of  La  Delivrande,  near  Caen,  had  a  playground  of  twenty 
acres.  The  park -like  garden  of  Les  Oiseaux,  in  the  Eue  de  Sevres, 
in  Paris,  was  nearly  as  large.  Les  Dames  Augustines,  at  Roule, 
Le  Sacre  Coeur,  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  were  as  well  provided. 
Schoolrooms  and  dormitories  were  scrupulously  clean,  lofty,  well 
lighted.  Infirmaries  were  faultless.  The  staffs  of  teachers  and 
monitresses  being  numerous,  and  free  from  cares  as  to  what  they 
should  eat  and  drink,  and  how  they  should  pay  rent  and  taxes, 
came  to  their  class-room  and  other  duties  unjaded.  Manners  and 
deportment  were  carefully  attended  to  :  the  best  bred  nuns  were 
the  monitresses  for  recreation  hours.  Respect  for  all  that  it  was 
agreed  was  to  be  respected  was  taught  by  precept  and  example. 
A  kind  of  emotional  piety,  closely  associated  with  the  rather  finical 
prettiness  of  the  chapel,  was  inculcated.  The  world  was  described 
us  a  horrible  place  where  bad  passions  raged.  Self-reliance  was 
not  a  plant  to  grow  in  these  warm  conservatories. 

In  1848  a  few  eminent  women  and  MM.  Hyppolite,  Carnot  (father 
of  the  President),  Barthelemy,  Saint-Hilaire,  and  Jules  Simon  took 
up  the  questions  of  primary  education  for  girls  and  of  the  reform  of 
primary  schools  for  boys.  Their  idea  was  to  combine  the  school 
with  industrial  apprenticeship,  and  to  render  attendance  obligatory 
and  gratuitous.  A  boys'  and  girls'  school  was  to  be  set  up  in  every 
commune  with  800  inhabitants.  The  law  was  nearly  passed  when 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  was  elected  President.  He,  wanting  the  help 
of  the  clergy  to  make  himself  emperor,  shelved  it ;  and  so  the  women 
of  the  masses  were  consigned  to  ignorance  until  M.  Duruy  arose 
nineteen  years  later.  One  great  work,  however,  was  accomplished 
in  that  interval,  and  by  the  group  which  was  with  M.  Carnot  in 
1848,  namely,  the  creation  in  Paris  of  technical  schools  for  girls, 
where  a  high-class  of  primary  instruction  is  given,  and  technical 
education  for  many  handicrafts,  arts,  and  trades.  The  creating 
spirit  of  these  schools  was  a  Madame  Lemonnier,  the  daughter  of  a 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  123 

South  of  France  pastor  and  wife  of  a  Saint  Simonien  lawyer.  She 
was  a  high-strung  being,  filled  with  an  enthusiasm  which  never 
became  the  wildfire  of  zeal.  In  one  respect  she  was  a  Saint 
Simonien.  It  was  borne  strongly  upon  her  mind  that  the  move- 
ment to  enfranchise  women  must  come  from  themselves,  and  that 
they  must  be  prepared  for  it  by  an  education  which  would  make 
them  self-reliant,  useful,  and  capable  of  enjoying  the  things  of  the 
mind.  There  are  now  three  of  these  schools  in  Paris.  The 
Empress  Frederick,  as  German  Crown  Princess,  found  in  them  a 
model  for  her  Victoria  and  Sophia  Schools  at  Berlin.  For  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  they  have  been  turning  out  about  500  pupils 
yearly,  armed  at  all  points  for  life's  struggle.  Few  of  these  young 
women  have  been  unsuccessful  in  any  of  the  careers  for  which  they 
were  specially  prepared,  and  in  which  they  command  the  market. 
Business  houses  are  on  the  watch  to  pick  up  girls  educated  in 
these  schools,  to  keep  books,  direct  commercial  establishments, 
make  dresses  and  mantles,  underclothes,  cut-out,  embroider, 
engrave  on  wood,  paint  from  nature  for  industrial  purposes,  paint 
glass,  porcelain,  and  design  for  textile  manufactures.  Thorough- 
ness is  the  aim  of  the  mistresses,  who  are  directed  by  a  committee 
of  ladies,  some  brilliant,  all  practical,  and  several  filling  great 
positions.  They  are  aided  with  a  consulting  committee  of  eminent 
scientists,  traders,  and  artists,  who  look  closely  to  the  work  done  in 
the  school,  and  give  help  in  opening  new  channels  for  activity. 

These  schools  were  begun  with  a  fund  collected  little  by  little  and 
day  by  day  by  Madame  Lemonnier,  who  spent  twelve  years  gathering- 
it.  Her  heart  burned  within  her,  and  she  communicated  her  sacred 
fire  to  those  whom  she  recruited.  She  seemed  a  being  in  whom 
there  was  no  dross.  Born  a  sweet  poetess,  all  her  poetry  in  her 
mature  years  went  into  beneficent  action.  She  sought  neither 
personal  profit  nor  glory,  and  died  just  as  she  began  to  realise 
that  the  great  idea  and  work  of  her  life  was  no  mere  dream  of  an 
enthusiast.  Her  schools  have  been  liberally  patronised  by  the 
Jews,  to  whom  they  owe  a  yearly  income,  taking  the  form  of  sub- 
scriptions, of  about  £3,000,  for  they  are  not  yet  self-supporting, 
though  in  a  fair  way  to  become  so.  Their  most  active  patronesses 
are  Mesdames  Jules  Simon,  Floquet,  wife  of  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Deputies,  Manuel,  wife  of  the  poet  who  sings  in  heart- 
awakening  verse  the  trials  of  the  poor,  the  joys  of  honest  family  life, 
the  happiness  of  guiding  one's  actions  according  to  duty,  and  the 
loveliness  of  justice,  human  brotherhood,  and  kindliness  towards  all 
God's  creatures. 

Boys'  schools  of  every  degree,  kept  by  religious  brotherhoods,  were, 
in  regard  to  pedagogic  education,  far  above  nuns'  schools,  low  and 
high.  This  was  due  to  young  men  having  to  start  out  in  life  in 
callings  and  professions  to  which  ignorance  would  have  been  a  bar. 
They  had  to  pass  test  examinations  for  the  civil  service,  enter 
cadets,  engineering,  polytechnic  schools,  also  through  examinations. 
Besides,  the  teaching  brotherhoods  were  subject  to  the  competition 
of  the  Lyceums,  which  stirred  them  up.  While  the  sons  of  rich 
liberal  and  reactionary  families  were  being  educated  according  to  a 


124  STATE    EDUCATION. 

high  standard,  the  daughters  were  being  trained,  how,  I  have 
already  shown.  In  good  society  thirty  years  ago,  in  consequence 
of  this  divergence  in  the  education  of  the  two  sexes,  a  great  chasm 
began  to  yawn  between  them.  In  drawing-rooms,  ladies  were  as 
much  isolated  from  gentlemen  as  if  they  were  in  a  Turkish  seraglio. 
A  man  of  sense  could  hardly,  with  any  pleasure  to  himself,  converse 
with  a  "  well-educated  "  lady.  Her  mind  bristled  with  small  and 
touchy  prejudices.  At  soirees  the  ladies  seated  themselves,  as  they 
unfortunately  do  yet,  at  one  end  of  the  room,  where  they  whispered 
flat  gossip  or  silently  scanned  each  others  dresses  ;  the  gentlemen 
standing  at  the  other,  solemn  as  at  a  funeral.  There  was  no  gay 
badinage,  no  collision  of  the  flint-and-steel  sort  between  masculine 
and  feminine  minds,  no  presentation  of  serious  ideas  in  light  and 
graceful  forms.  When  there  was  not  the  noisy  mirth  of  vacuity 
there  was  pretentious  dulness.  This  stagnation  was  unexpectedly 
disturbed,  owing  to  the  following  causes. 

About  the  middle  of  the  sixties  the  Empress  Eugenie  wanted,  the 
Emperor's  health  being  bad,  to  prepare  her  way  towards  a  Regency, 
and  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  He  and  she  then 
happened  to  go  to  an  agricultural  show  at  Orleans.  The  bishop 
and  his  clergy  furbished  up  their  local  erudition  and  scholarship  to 
display  it  before  the  Empress  and  her  ladies,  as  in  another  reign 
they  had  before  the  Duchess  of  Orleans.  But  what  M.  Dupanloup 
had  to  say  was,  he  found,  Greek  to  Eugenie  and  her  fair  following. 
His  disappointment  and  ire  at  not  finding  them  responsive  were  given 
vent  to  in  a  series  of  articles  for  Le  Correspondent,  in  which  he  wrote 
at  them.  Though  not  exactly  for  Equal  Rights,  he  was  a  Joan  of 
Arcist,  and  could  not  endure  ladies  not  learned  enough  to  seize 
the  classical  and  historical  allusions  with  which  he  studded  his  con- 
versation. M.  Duruy  came  about  this  time  into  office  as  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction.  He  had  lost  the  idol  of  his  life,  an  only 
daughter,  with  whom  he  was  one  in  heart,  thought,  and  all  the 
knowledge  she  had  acquired  from  him.  M.  Duruy  felt  like 
Jeremiah  lamenting  over  Jerusalem  as  he  realised,  in  the  grand 
world  to  which  he  was  admitted,  to  what  a  degree  the  sexes  lived 
apart,  and  how  mischievous,  from  ignorance  and  a  mind-distorting 
education,  the  power  the  fine  ladies  still  exercised  had  become. 

Below,  things  were  almost  as  bad.  Statistics  showed  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  women  felons  and  misdemeanants  did  not  know  how 
to  read  and  write.  There  was  not  among  them,  from  1850  to  1860, 
a  single  woman  who  had  received  a  good  education.  Whilst  the 
number  of  illiterate  men  had  decreased  at  the  rate  of  103  per  1,000, 
the  ratio  of  diminution,  notwithstanding  all  the  schools  of  Saint 
Marie,  was  only  49  per  1,000.  Out  of  1,200  women  tried  for  infant 
murder,  but  six  knew  how  to  read,  write,  and  cast  up  accounts.  In 
the  west  and  central  departments  the  proportion  of  illiterate  women, 
many  of  whom  could  not  read  the  clock-dial,  had  remained  what  it 
was  in  1848,  when  M.  Carnot  made  his  educational  census,  namely, 
from  794  to  895  per  1,000.  The  advance,  as  shown  at  the  uni- 
versal exhibition  of  1867,  of  Switzerland,  Germany,  Holland,  and 
even  Austria  through  the  school,  came  home  to  the  Imperial 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN. 

Government.  M.  Duruy  took  advantage  of  all  this,  and  of  the 
anger  of  the  Empress  at  finding  herself  written  at  by  the  Bishop  of 
Orleans,  to  advance  the  cause  he  had  at  heart  and  on  his  brain. 
He  decided  that  Mile.  Daubie  was  to  be  given  the  University  B.A. 
degree  for  which  she  qualified  six  years  before,  carried  a  law  obliging 
every  commune  of  500  inhabitants  to  open  a  primary  school  for  girls, 
and  taught  according  to  the  wish  of  each  commune  by  laics  or 
Sisters.  Women  and  girls  were  admitted  by  his  order  to  the 
Sorbonne  lectures,  to  which  the  Empress  sent  her  nieces,  and 
classes  for  higher  instruction  were  opened  for  girls  in  the  chief 
county  and  other  towns  where  there  were  Schools  of  Faculties  and 
Lyceums,  the  professors  of  which  were  to  teach  at  them.  It  became 
bon  genre  to  go  to  the  Sorbonne,  where  M.  Caro  lent  grace  and  other 
charms  to  moral  philosophy,  and  M.  Paul  Albert  awoke  a  thirst  for 
history  and  classic  literature.  But  in  the  provincial  towns  the  new 
classes  met  with  violent  hostility.  Parish  priests  and  vicars  stood 
at  the  lecture-room  doors  to  make  lists  of  the  young  girls  who  went 
in  or  out,  and  put  them  and  their  families  under  a  ban.  An  order 
came  from  Rome  for  the  Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  was  "  the  father  of 
the  mischief,"  to  eat  his  words,  and  he  explained  them  away.  The 
Empress  took  her  nieces  from  the  Sorbonne,  and  M.  Duruy  was  dis- 
missed. In  1870  his  provincial  classes  had,  in  all  but  14  Republican 
towns,  died  out.  But  they  were  so  missed  by  the  women  who  attended 
them  as  chaperons,  and  the  young  girls,  that  on  the  Camille  See 
law  being  passed  in  1880,  the  great  county  and  manufacturing 
towns  asked  to  co-operate  with  Government  in  creating  Lyceums 
for  their  girls. 

There  was  a  hard  fight  in  the  Senate  over  this  law,  in  favour  of 
which  were  MM.  Henry  Martin,  Carnot,  Jules  Simon,  St.  Hilaire, 
Pressense,  Schoelcher,  and  De  Freycinet.  Gambetta  was  its  fervent 
advocate  publicly  and  privately.  He  disliked  the  company  of 
women  who  were  insensible  to  the  ideas  that  rolled  from  him  with 
splendid  richness  when  he  talked  at  the  table  or  fireside  of  a  friend. 
The  women-writers  of  France,  De  Sevigne,  De  Maintenon,  Roland, 
De  Stael,  Sand  (when  she  described  country  life  and  landscapes),  and 
Louise  Ackermann,  gave  him  the  most  pleasure.  He  never  enjoyed 
living  in  the  south  of  France,  because  women  did  not  go  with  their 
husbands  to  the  cafes,  and  were  not  in  companionship  with  men. 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  result  on  France  of  the  uprise  of  the 
race  which  M.  Drumont  hates,  the  advance  made  by  women  within 
twenty  years  could  not  have  been  as  rapid  as  it  has  been  since  1880 
without  Jewish  help.  That  help  was  strenuous  and  practical.  If, 
as  M.  Drumont  believes,  the  Jews  want  to  ruin  France,  they  have 
worked  hard,  in  the  matter  of  education,  to  secure  to  French 
Gentiles  the  advantages  to  which  they  themselves  owe  the  power 
that  they  exercise.  Jews  and  Protestants  form  a  small  minority  of 
the  whole  French  population.  The  great  situations  both  fill  are 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  numbers  of  these  communities.  This 
is  because  they  lost  no  educational  advantage,  and  were  ready  to 
take  the  Republican  tide.  The  Protestants  are  not  as  rich  as  the 
Jews,  but  are  more  to  the  front  as  occupants  of  high  places.  Both 


126  STATE    EDUCATION. 

have  co-operated  heartily  in  all  questions  that  touch  the  advance- 
ment of  public  instruction.  A  Jew  of  rare  personal  distinction, 
M.  Camille  See,  is  the  author  of  the  law  under  which  France  has 
twenty-seven  girls'  high  schools,  and  will  soon  have  thirty-six — a 
law  that  Belgium  has  copied.  It  was  elaborated  by  M.  Jules  Simon, 
a  Jew  on  his  father's  side  of  the  house,  by  MM.  Cohn,  the  Poet 
Manuel  (Jews  both),  Zevort,  Breal,  and  Greard,  Vice  Hector  of  the 
University  of  France,  and  biographer  of  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
whom  he  has  set  right  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  have  read  his  pene- 
trating criticism  on  her  time,  life,  surrounding  circumstances,  work, 
and  writings. 

It  was  a  pity  there  were  not  women  as  well  as  men  on  the  Grand 
Council  of  Public  Instruction  when  the  courses  which  are  followed 
in  the  girls'  Lyceums  were  being  elaborated.  The  programmes  are 
overcrowded.  Too  much  time  must  be  spent  in  lessons  and  pre- 
paration. Madame  de  Maintenon' s  plan  of  varying  class  work  with 
hard  physical  work  and  elegant  arts  was  a  healthy  one.  Short 
hours  for  class  leave  time  for  such  variety,  and  afford  rest,  without 
which  there  can  be  no  unconscious  cerebration,  and,  therefore,  no 
strong  flashes  of  head-light.  Nobody  more  than  M.  Camille  See 
regrets  the  overcharged  programmes.  But  when  women  enter  the 
Grand  Council  they  will  probably  reform  as  he  would  wish.  The 
quality  of  the  teaching  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  Morals  are 
treated  as  a  positive  science,  growing  out  of  the  social  needs  of 
human  beings.  Religion  is  taught  to  pupils  of  different  denomina- 
tions in  separate  rooms  by  their  priests,  pastors,  or  rabbis. 

Secondary   instruction   has   not    yet   had   time   to   improve   the 
material   status   of  French  women,  but  we  may  hope  that  it  will 
rapidly  improve  their  condition  and  speed  forward  evolution.     Girls 
who  study  in  Lyceums  generally  belong  to  families  of  good  means. 
A  fair  proportion  of  poor  ones  enter  on  scholarships.     It  is  decided 
that,  all  things  equal,  women  professors  are  to  be  preferred  to  men 
in  these  establishments,  and  that  in  every  case  the  principals  are 
to  be  women.     What  is  very  remarkable  is  that  young  girls  educated 
in  the  new  secondary  schools  outstrip  young  men  at  the  university 
examinations  for  diplomas — not  in  Greek  and  Latin,  but  in  science. 
The  girl's  mind  in  the  new  Lyceums  more  easily  takes  in  mathe- 
matics  and    physics    than    classics,    history,    and    moral    science. 
Young  women  who  have  striven  successfully  for  medical  diplomas 
have  been  without   exception   classed  as   super-excellent   by   their 
examiners.     But  the  number  of  French  who   attend   the   medical 
schools  of  Paris  is  less  than  that  of  English,  Americans,  and  very 
much  less   than   the   number  of   Russians.      French   and   foreign 
female  undergraduates  are  admitted  to  compete  at  examinations  for 
house  studentships  in  hospitals.      An  Anglo-French   young   lady, 
Blanche  Edwards,  was   the  first  to   get  in.      The  next  was   Miss 
Klumke,  a  Californian,  who  is  counted  one  of  the  first  among  living 
anatomists,  and  has  gone  deeper  than  any  one  else  into  the  remote 
nervous   causes  of  paralysis.      The  Town    Council   of    Paris    has 
resolved  that  doctresses  are  only  to  be  employed  (when  there  are 
enough   of  them)  in  the   infant   and   girls'  communal   schools.     A 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  127 

similar  rule  has  been  made  concerning  the  offices  in  which  women 
are  employed  in  the  posts  and  telegraph  department.  Infant  schools 
are  exclusively  under  female  teachers.  The  communal  school- 
mistresses are  mostly  women  of  superior  parts,  and  far  above  the 
schoolmasters  of  their  class.  In  Paris  they  are  received  in  the  best 
society,  and  are  well  off,  though  not  as  well  paid  as  their  masculine 
colleagues.  These  are  the  relative  scales  of  salaries  : — 

SCHOOLMASTERS. 

Number  now 
Clas8-  SalaiT-  employed. 

1st  Class  .  .  4,500f.  ...  42 

2nd    „  .  .  4,800f.  ...  44 

3rd     „  .  .  8,700f.  ...  71 

4th     „  .  .  3,300f.  ...  17 

UNDER  MASTERS. 

1st  Class  .  .  3,000f.  .         ,.800 

2nd    „  .  .  2,700f.  ,   ,         ;  '      .       806 

3rd    „  .  .  2,400f.  ;  .         .         .       277 

4th    „  .  .  2,100f.  .         .         .,      285 

5th    „  .  .  l,800f.  ...       155 

SCHOOLMISTRESSES. 

1st  Class  .  .  3,800f.  ...  42 

2nd    „  .  .  8,450f.  ...  52 

3rd     „  .  .  3,100f.  ...  77 

4th    „  .  .  2,750f.  ...  23 

UNDER  MISTRESSES. 

1st  Class  .  .  2,500f.  .         .         .  225 

2nd    „  .  .  2,250f.  .         .         .  278 

3rd     „  .  .  2,000f.  .         .         <  334 

4th     „  .  .  l,750f.  ...  301 

5th    „  .  .  l,500f.  ...  175 


Masters  and  mistresses  of  all  classes  and  degrees  of  seniority,  who 
are  not  lodged  in  schoolhouses,  are  allowed,  according  to  the  dear- 
ness  or  the  cheapness  of  the  neighbourhood  where  they  teach,  from 
400f.  to  500f.  for  rent.  The  mistresses,  as  has  been  pointed  out, 
are  not  so  well  off  as  the  masters,  and  yet  they  have,  in  addition  to 
the  usual  pedagogic  task,  to  teach  sewing,  cutting  out,  washing, 
clear  starching,  ironing,  and  plain  cooking.  Ten  francs  a  day  per 
girls'  school  is  allowed  for  edibles  on  which  the  cook  is  to  demon- 
strate. What  she  cooks  goes  to  the  poorest  or  "  assisted  "  class  of 
children  to  whom  food  is  given  by  the  City.  She  and  the  senior 
girls  have  also  to  instruct  the  junior  or  "non-assisted"  ones 
who  bring  the  materials  for  their  noontide  meal,  how  to  dress  them. 


128  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Sometimes  a  lesson  is  given  in  association,  by  making  out  of  what 
each  brings  common  dishes.  Ten  children,  say,  have  raw  eggs. 
Would  they  like  them  in  an  omelette  instead  of  boiled,  or  would 
they  by  combining  to  buy  some  rice,  milk,  and  sugar,  have  a  pud- 
ding ?  If  the  eggs  are  to  be  boiled  the  names  of  the  several  owners 
are  written  on  them,  with,  according  to  the  taste  of  each,  the  words, 
"well  done,"  "done  to  a  turn,"  or  "underdone,"  the  French  for 
which  last  is  baveux.  The  reason  schoolmistresses  are  paid  less 
than  schoolmasters  is  that  the  latter  have  votes  and  can  be  useful  to 
candidates  at  elections.  Political  parties  are  always  trying  to  have 
and  to  hold  the  communal  schoolmasters,  and  the  Republic  has 
delivered  them  in  rural  districts  from  all  servitude  to  the  Church. 
In  Republican  places  the  schoolmistress,  if  a  woman  of  character 
and  pleasant  manner,  is  on  a  good  social  footing.  In  Clerical  com- 
munes she  is  often  attacked  behind  her  back,  and  constantly  de- 
nounced in  anonymous  and  signed  letters  to  the  Board  of  Public 
Instruction  and  to  the  Communal  Council.  Paris  is  the  heaven  of 
the  primary  schoolmistress,  because  of  the  personal  independence 
she  enjoys  out  of  school  hours,  and  the  social  relations  she  may 
form  with  distinguished  people  who  value  usefulness  and  love  the 
fruits  of  the  mind.  There  is  an  average  of  fifty  vacancies  for  school- 
mistresses, upper  and  under,  in  the  Paris  communal  schools.  The 
candidates  this  year  came  to  6,479,  and  next  year  there  must  be  a 
great  many  more. 

Mile.  Maria  Deraismes,  an  all-round,  strong,  brilliant,  highly- 
educated,  and  a  wealthy  woman,  is  working  to  push  the  law  for 
granting  civil  rights  to  women  through  the  Senate.  She  is  first 
among  the  orators  of  France,  deserves  to  rank  as  a  classic  polemist, 
and  is  hearty,  generous,  and  in  all  things  right  minded.  This  lady 
was  carefully  educated  by  her  father,  and  is  a  well  of  erudition. 
She  holds  the  Town  Council  in  her  hand,  and  has  for  her  lieu- 
tenants in  the  Chamber  MM.  Yves-Guyot,  and  Clemenceau.  A 
thing  to  recommend  her  is  her  freedom  from  pedantrjr  and  small 
vanity.  According  to  statistics  with  which  she  has  furnished  me, 
23,000  women  are  employed  on  French  railways  (1)  to  signal,  (2)  as 
junior  clerks  and  to  issue  tickets,  and  (3)  as  senior  clerks.  The 
Post  Office  employs  10,000  as  clerks,  assistant  and  district  post- 
mistresses, not  to  speak  of  telegraphists  and  telephonists.  But  it 
has  lately  ruled  that  daughters  of  postal  functionaries  are  to  be 
preferred.  M.  Magnan,  Governor  of  the  Bank  of  France,  opened 
many  departments  there  to  women.  He  says  they  scent  forged 
notes  with  unerring  sureness.  There  are  200  women  clerks  there, 
entitled,  like  the  men,  to  pensions.  The  Credit  Foncier  employs 
260,  and  gives  them  pension  rights.  Not  a  few  private  banks  are 
directed  in  chief  by  women.  As  book-keepers  and  auditors  they  top 
the  market,  and  are  very  well  paid.  Women  buyers  only  act  as 
such  for  themselves  and  husbands.  Madame  Jaluzot  made  the 
fortune  of  the  Printemps  loy  her  taste  as  a  buyer  of  fancy  wares, 
and  Madame  Boucicaut  of  the  Bon  Marche. 

French  women  who  move  forward  owe  a  good  deal  to  the  example 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  129 

of  their  American  sisters.  It  stirred  them  up  to  see  English  and 
American  and  then  Russian  girls  attend  the  Schools  of  Medicine, 
walk  the  hospitals,  live  as  decent  girls  should,  without  chaperons, 
and  distinguish  themselves  at  degree  examinations.  There  is  long 
headway  to  make  before  they  come  up  to  the  daughters  of  Brother 
Jonathan,  who  have  equal  rights  at  the  Bar,  in  the  reporters'  gallery 
(of  which  the  entree  is  still  denied  to  them  in  "  the  first  Assembly  in 
the  world  " — the  British  House  of  Commons),  the  school,  college, 
pulpit,  editorial  room,  and  hope  soon  to  have  political  rights  in  all 
the  forty-two  States  of  the  Union. 

Last  February,  Senator  Blair,  Chairman  of  the  Select  Committee 
to  report  on  a  resolution  proposing  an  amendment  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  reported  in  favour  of  a  change  favourable  to 
woman's  suffrage.  The  committee  thought  denial  of  that  suffrage 
on  a  par  with  negro  slavery  in  its  injustice.  Unless  the  United 
States  Government  should  be  made  and  kept  Republican  by  such 
suffrage,  the  ballot  could  not  accomplish  great  reforms,  nor  dis- 
integration in  the  body  politic  be  checked.  Corruption  of  male 
suffrage  was  a  well-nigh  fatal  disease.  The  ballot  was  withheld 
from  women,  whose  moral  sense,  when  they  are  regarded  as  a  mass, 
is  far  higher  than  that  of  the  other  sex,  because  men  did  not  wish 
to  part  with  one-half  of  the  governing  power.  Ignoble  and  tragic 
catastrophes  had  engulfed  all  past  Republics,  which,  without  excep- 
tion, denied  equal  rights.  The  United  States  Republic  would 
founder,  too,  if  it  kept  on  being  a  male  Republic.  What  Senator- 
Blair  said  was  needed,  was  a  Republic  in  which  both  men  and 
women  should  be  free  indeed. 

The  State  of  Wyoming  has  Woman's  Suffrage,  and  Kansas  gives 
municipal  rights  to  its  women,  and  finds  there  is  advantage  in  doing 
so.  The  cities  which  have  lady  Mayors,  and  town  councils  that  do 
not  include  a  single  male  member,  are  the  ones  in  which  the  whisky 
saloons  are  on  their  good  behaviour  and  the  town  concerns  best 
managed.  One  of  the  greatest  organisations  in  the  world  is  Frances 
Willard's  and  Mary  A.  Livermore's  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  It  covers  the  whole  ground  from  East  to  West,  and  nothing 
escapes  its  vigilance.  The  three  planks  of  its  platform  are  the 
temperance  question,  the  labour  question,  and  the  woman's  ques- 
tion. Married  ladies  joining  it  are  requested  to  register  themselves 
under  their  own,  and  not  their  husband's  names.  This  organisa- 
tion is  becoming  a  school  for  women  journalists.  It  has  its  found- 
ling homes,  city  nurseries,  kindergartens,  inebriates'  reformatories, 
and  some  of  the  central  unions  from  which  district  ones  branch 
have  their  lady  attorneys,  and  no  Sally  Brasses  either.  A  Mrs. 
Ada  Bitterden  is  the  attorney  for  the  organisation  at  Chicago. 
The  light  of  legal  science  for  the  whole  organisation  is  Leila 
Josephine  Robinson,  author  of  "  The  Legal  Rights  of  Women,  and 
the  Law  of  Husband  and  Wife,"  a  new  text-book  which  already  is 
accepted  by  lawyers  as  an  authorit}-.  There  are  mixed  guilds  and 
women's  guilds  of  art  and  learning,  and  there  is  a  social  guild 
at  Philadelphia  where  young  wage-earners  of  both  sexes  meet  in 
evenings  to  follow  classes,  debate,  sing  in  glees,  chorals,  and  soli, 

VOL.    I.  K 


130  STATE    EDUCATION. 

and  on  Saturday  evenings  to  dance  ;  Friday  evenings  are  Eleusinian. 
Gentlemen  absent  themselves  because  the  ladies  want  drill  exercise. 
The  Bryn  Mawr  University  maidens  have  overflowing  biological 
laboratories.  Miss  Goff,  a  graduate,  is  the  demonstrator  and  an 
authority  on  ferments.  Miss  Randolph,  fellow  in  biology,  has 
lately  delivered  a  lecture  which  ought  to  make  Sir  John  Lubbock 
claim  her  as  a  sister  scientist.  The  subject  is,  "  Do  Animals 
think  ?  "  She  and  Miss  Goff  are  engaged  on  special  work,  the  one 
studying  the  regeneration  of  lost  parts,  and  the  other  the  action  of 
drugs  on  the  heart.  At  Chicago,  the  young  ladyhood  have  a 
medical  college  of  their  own.  Scientific  ladies  in  the  United  States 
have  lost  none  of  the  charm  for  which  in  past  ages  women  were 
mostly  valued.  If  there  is  a  sight  on  earth  which  should  cause  joy 
to  a  believer  in  the  ever-mounting,  ever-widening  spiral  of  human 
progress,  it  is  that  of  bands  of  white-robed  American  girls  on  degree 
day.  Head,  firm  character,  impressionability,  are  expressed  in  the 
fair  young  faces,  the  mien,  the  slender  figures.  Sentimentality  has 
been  crowded  out,  but  there  is  no  incapacity  for  sentiment  or  idealitj^. 
The  most  intellectual  women  in  America  have  been  the  most 
humane.  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  wrote  her  wonderful  book  because 
she  had  a  wonderful  and  finely-cultivated  mind,  and  a  heart  that 
bled  at  the  sufferings  of  the  negro  slave.  Boston  is  famous  for  its 
good  works.  And  what  a  fidget  the  Boston  woman  is  about  her 
"  mind."  High  intellectual  and  moral  consciousness  form  the  heaven 
to  which  she  is  ever  soaring.  New  England  spinsters  often  settle 
down  into  happy,  useful,  and  dignified  old  maidenhood.  They  don't 
marry,  because  they  don't  want  to,  and  not  from  want  of  asking. 
Ladies  all  over  the  United  States  are  coining  to  the  front  as 
preachers.  Out  West,  there  are  a  number  in  the  pulpits  of  the 
Unitarian  churches,  and  they  are  thought  the  most  active  and 
progressive  ministers  there. 

The  Reverend  Miss  Carrie  J.  Bartlett,  of  Kalamazoo,  Michigan, 
who  has  been  three  years  in  the  ministry,  is  making  Brooklyn  forget 
the  Rev.  H.  Ward  Beecher.  She  started  in  life  as  a  reporter,  then 
rose  to  be  assistant  editor,  in  which  post  she  got  sick  of  newspaper 
sensationalism,  political  intrigues  and  other  uglinesses,  and  deter- 
mined to  devote  herself  to  the  pulpit.  The  churches  in  Clinton 
Street  and  Gale's  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  have  been  lent  her  by  their 
vestries.  To  judge  from  her  looks,  she  might  be  twenty-six,  is  of 
average  height,  has  a  strong,  speaking  face,  large,  eloquent  eyes, 
and  mobile  and  delicately  formed  lips.  Her  voice  carries  far,  is  firm 
and  under  control.  The  diction  is  delightful,  her  articulation  being 
distinct,  tones  well  modulated,  and  those  of  a  finely- organised 
contralto  chest  and  larynx.  The  gestures  are  graceful,  and  she  has 
a  sculptural  hand,  elegantly  finished  at  the  finger  tips.  At  home  in 
the  pulpit,  and  speaking  out  of  the  depths  of  her  own  emotion,  she 
easily  sways  her  hearers.  When  she  preaches,  she  dresses  in  a  neat 
black  silk  dress,  with  box  pleats  falling  the  whole  way  from  the  back 
of  her  neck.  Since  God  made  roses,  and  human  industry  developed 
their  beauty,  she  does  not  see  why  she  should  not  wear  a  cluster  of 
them  in  her  corsage  when  she  preaches.  Perhaps  they  might  be 


STATUS    OF    WOMEN.  131 

better  on  the  desk  or  communion  table.  The  Reverend  Miss 
Carrie  Bartlett's  central  idea  is  that  happiness  is  in  ourselves, 
depending  on  our  view  of  life  in  its  relations  and  its  bearings.  She 
holds  the  present  phase  of  the  world's  history  to  be  one  rich  in 
Divine  Grace  and  influx,  and  indeed  a  sacred  phase. 

The  excellence  of  the  public  schools,  and  the  spread  of  higher 
instruction,  are  making  the  American  woman  fit  for  everything  that 
does  not  require  muscular  strength.  Fitness  is  shown  in  Arts : 
witness  Miss  Hosmer,  Margaret  Foley  the  cameo  carver,  Miss 
Elizabeth  Gardner,  Miss  Strong,  the  animal  painter,  Miss  Fanny 
Currey,  who  is  growing  famous  as  a  landscape  painter,  and  with 
ease,  in  modesty  and  retirement,  making  quite  a  fortune.  I  never 
met,  it  now  occurs  to  me,  a  talented  American  woman  artist  who 
was  not  quite  reserved,  free  from  extravagance,  tastefully  dressed, 
versed  in  social  amenities.  The  lady  lawyer  also  dresses  well. 
Victoria  Woodhull  and  her  sister,  both  great  Wall  Street  operators, 
made  conquests  after  they  had  made  fortunes,  of  two  English 
millionaires,  one  of  whom  has  an  English  and  the  other  a  Portuguese 
title.  Even  Mrs.  Hetty  Green,  the  richest  woman  in  her  own 
right,  and  in  regard  to  three-fourths  of  her  wealth  by  her  own 
exertions,  does  not  impress  one  as  a  disagreeable  person.  She  looks 
motherly.  The  point  of  a  nearly  straight  nose  is  just  a  little  sug- 
gestive of  hardness,  but  the  eyes  are  blue  and  kindly,  and  she  has  a 
straightforward  manner  in  which  there  is  no  peremptoriness.  Mrs. 
Hetty  came  years  ago  into  a  fortune  of  $9,000,000  after  she  had 
started  out  in  her  present  course.  She  is  now  worth  $40,000,000, 
and  is  not  yet  on  the  downhill  slope  of  middle  age. 

Journalism  now  gives  a  field  to  thousands  of  American  women. 
Editors,  shorthand  and  type-writing  clerks,  are  mostly  young  ladies. 
Miss  Hutchinson,  for  years  the  editor  of  the  Neiv  York  Sunday 
Tribune,  the  best  weekly  paper,  perhaps,  in  existence,  is  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  critics  of  the  age.  Gail  Hamilton,  Mrs. 
Blaine's  cousin,  stands  at  the  top  of  the  American  press  as  "a 
letter-essayist."  Syndicates  give  her  any  price  she  chooses  to  ask 
for  articles  to  be  copyrighted. 

To  realise  how  far  English  girlhood  and  womanhood  have 
advanced  since  the  Social  Science  Congresses  first  timidly  aired  the 
woman's  question,  one  should  live  a  good  deal  out  of  England.  To 
do  so  has  been  my  fate.  Whenever  of  late  years  I  returned  there, 
my  breath  was  almost  taken  away  by  the  speed  with  which  this 
question  had  advanced  to  many  solutions.  In  France,  "the  cause  " 
is  held  back  by  the  habit  of  intrigue  contracted  by  French  middle- 
class  women  since  the  First  Empire  in  overcoming  the  difficulties 
of  their  position.  No  men  are  more  respectful  than  the  French 
towards  well-conducted  women  or  girls.  But  none  are  more  quick 
to  take  a  bad  advantage  of  levity,  or  a  taste  for  gallant  intrigue. 
Women  are  shut  out  from  many  advantages  for  this  and  no  other 
reason.  They  are  recognized  as  art  critics,  and  Madame  Eouvier 
had  a  permanent  seat  in  the  gallery  of  the  Chamber  as  a  press 
woman.  But  railway  boards  refuse  them  free  passes.  In  England 

K  2 

' 


132  STATE    EDUCATION. 

there  is  a  different  state  of  mind.  There  is  also  greater  candour 
and  good  faith  in  the  British  than  in  the  French  mind,  which 
is  often  apt  to  be  c}Tnical,  and  to  bow  rather  to  routine  than  to 
what  is  fair.  Maria  Deraismes  and  Louise  Michel  are  the  only 
women  in  France  ready  to  go  on  political  platforms  to  address 
meetings.  Mrs.  Gladstone,  Lady  Sandhurst,  Lady  Dilke,  Lady 
Carlisle,  Mrs.  Ashton  Dilke,  Mrs.  Ormeston  Chant,  Mrs.  Labou- 
chere,  Miss  Cobden,  Lady  Aberdeen,  who  is  all  grace,  goodness,  and 
a  rock  of  sense,  and  many  others  of  light  and  leading,  have  come 
forward  as  public  speakers.  Nobody  since  Wesley  has  so  leavened 
the  poor  inhabitants  of  English  towns  as  Mrs.  Booth  of  the  Salva- 
tion army.  The  philanthropy  of  Elizabeth  Fry  was  wondered  at 
in  her  time,  and  justly.  I  doubt  whether  she  worked  such  wonders 
as  Mrs.  Percy  Bunting,  whose  modesty  prevents  fame  from  finding 
her  out.  Mrs.  Amos,  Miss  Clementina  Black,  Mrs.  Price  Hughes 
and  her  band  of  "sisters"  are  an  angelic  influence  in  the  horrible 
parts  of  London,  raising  the  weak  and  fallen,  inspiriting  to  better 
effort,  showing  what  may  be  done  by  organisation  and  by  doing  one's 
best.  Nor  should  Mrs.  Besant  be  passed  over.  She  is  right-minded 
and  true  hearted.  Her  work  will  not  be  in  vain.  English  women 
have  learned  to  stand  together.  I  had  many  opportunities  of  seeing 
the  "  advanced"  ones  among  them  at  the  Women's  Congresses  held 
last  year  in  Paris.  Some  of  them  were  successful  as  agreeable  women 
at  the  soirees  given  in  honour  of  these  congresses  by  members  of  the 
French  Government  and  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine.  Miss  Balgarnie, 
a  straightforward,  unaffected,  soft-mannered  and  handsome  girl,  a 
Una  who  might  lead  any  lion,  tamed  or  otherwise,  represented  an 
association  to  obtain  the  political  franchise  for  British  women.  I 
never  spent  more  enjoyable  days  than  at  the  Universal  Exhibition  of 
last  year  with  her  and  some  of  the  distinguished  consceurs  who  came 
over  for  congresses  with  her.  Doctors  Kate  and  Julia  Mitchell,  the 
incomparably  beautiful  Madame  Anna  de  Kitzius  of  Stockholm,  were 
in  the  company,  with  Mrs.  Magnusson,  who  is  likely  to  become  the 
Elise  Lemonnier  of  her  native  Iceland. 

These  are  a  few  thoughts  regarding  the  education  and  status  of 
women,  as  they  occur  to  one  of  themselves,  in  three  of  the  most 
highly  civilised  countries  in  the  world.  Intellectually,  Woman  may 
be  said,  even  more  than  Man,  to  be  in  her  infancy ;  but  when  it  is 
considered  how  the  growth  of  her  mental  faculties  has  been  stunted, 
and  how  in  past  times  in  Europe,  as  even  now  in  Eastern  lands,  she 
was  regarded  as  an  inferior  being,  and  by  some  denied  the  possession 
of  a  soul,  it  is  marvellous  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  she 
should  have  advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds,  until  she  has  proved 
herself  the  equal  of  Man  in  some,  as  she  may  one  day  prove  herself 
his  superior  in  many  departments  of  human  knowledge. 

MRS.  EMILY  CRAWFORD. 


PART    X, 

TECHNICAL   INSTRUCTION,   AND   PAYMENT   ON 

RESULTS 

MANY  circumstances  have  combined  to  bring  the  subject  of 
Elementary  Education  prominently  under  public  notice.  The 
general  demand  for  Technical  Instruction,  which  is  now  in  a  fair 
way  towards  being  satisfied,  directed  attention  to  the  foundations  on 
which  all  education  rests,  and  showed  that  the  provision  of  technical 
instruction  for  artisans  depended  for  its  success  on  the  efficiency  of 
the  preliminary  teaching  in  our  primary  schools. 

The  Royal  Commissioners  on  Technical  Instruction,  appointed 
in  1881,  soon  discovered  the  close  connection  that  existed  in  all 
European  countries  between  elementary  and  technical  education, 
and  that  no  satisfactory  and  general  scheme  of  technical  education 
could  be  introduced  into  this  country  which  did  not  presuppose 
various  alterations  and  improvements  in  our  system  of  elementary 
teaching.  In  the  introduction  to  their  Report  they  say :  "  It  is 
necessary  in  order  to  understand  the  position  of  the  purely  Technical 
Schools,  of  which  we  shall  have  to  treat  subsequently,  that  an  out- 
line should  be  given  of  the  system  that  has  been  adopted  for  the 
general  education  of  young  people  of  both  sexes,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  school  age  onwards ; "  and,  in  the  concluding 
chapter,  are  found  many  important  recommendations  with  respect  to 
primary  instruction,  all  of  which  have  received  careful  consideration, 
but  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  passed  beyond  the  stage  of  enquiry. 
A  general  feeling  that  our  whole  system  of  elementary  teaching 
required  to  be  remodelled  in  order  to  better  adapt  the  instruction  to 
the  practical  needs  of  artisan  life  was  one  of  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  appointment,  in  1885,  of  the  Royal  Commission  of  enquiry  into 
the  working  of  the  education  acts ;  and  although  from  the  constitu- 
tion of  that  Commission  no  general  agreement  could  have  been 
expected,  the  recommendations  of  either  section,  if  adopted,  would 
effect  considerable  improvement  in  the  character  of  the  teaching 
given  in  our  Public  Elementary  Schools. 

Notwithstanding  the  imperfections  of  the  Act  of  1870,  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  this  first  attempt  to  nationalize  our  education  and  to 
bring  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  within  reach  of  all  classes  of  the 
community  are  generally  recognized.  But  twenty  years  ago  the 
principles  of  education  were  not  so  well  understood  as  they  now  are ; 
.and  apart  from  the  difficulties  and  delays  which  arose  from  the 


134  STATE    EDUCATION. 

necessity  of  getting  School  Boards  into  working  order,  of  erecting 
new  schools  and  of  training  efficient  teachers,  the  aims  of  elementary 
instruction  were  not  clearly  understood,  and  the  results  of  the 
teaching  were  consequently  found  to  be  less  satisfactory  than  had 
been  anticipated. 

Children  left  school  able  to  read  and  write  and  do  simple  sums, 
but  their  intelligence  had  been  very  little  quickened  by  the  instruc- 
tion they  had  received,  and  of  the  knowledge  they  had  gained  little 
or  nothing  remained  a  year  or  so  after  their  schooling  was  over. 
Even  the  mechanical  ability  to  read  and  write  was  partially  lost 
through  neglect,  and  the  power  of  using  writing  as  a  means  of 
expressing  thought  can  be  scarcely  said  to  have  been  acquired. 
The  influence  of  medievalism,  which  had  moulded  all  our  Secondary 
Schools  to  one  pattern,  had  stamped  its  mark  upon  our  elementary 
system  of  education,  and  had  made  the  exercise  of  memory  the 
main  purpose  of  instruction.  Other  circumstances  had  tended  to 
accentuate  this  position.  The  system  of  distributing  the  Govern- 
ment grant  by  payment  on  the  results  of  the  examination  of  indi- 
vidual pupils  has  had  much  to  do  with  placing  before  teachers  an 
altogether  erroneous  idea  of  the  real  aim  of  education.  Of  this  fact, 
I  think  there  can  be  now  no  reasonable  doubt ;  and  whilst  the  Code 
unduly  encouraged  the  teaching  of  literary  subjects,  the  effect  of  the 
annual  inspection  was  to  intensify  the  efforts  of  the  teachers  to  make 
the  children  remember  such  facts  and  phrases  as  would  pay  best  in 
the  examination.  In  learning  to  read  and  write,  as  in  learning 
any  other  art,  in  which  skill  has  to  be  acquired,  a  certain  amount 
of  drill  is  absolutely  necessary,  but  such  mechanical  methods  of 
instruction  are  of  little  use  in  awakening  and  stimulating  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  child. 

Some  of  our  best  educational  authorities  have  pointed  out  that 
the  fault  of  our  teaching  is  that  it  is  too  "bookish;"  and  this 
conclusion  has  been  reached  by  those  who  have  approached  the 
subject  along  very  different  and  almost  opposite  lines  of  enquiry. 
The  late  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  knew  our  schools  from  within.  He 
was  familiar  with  the  methods  of  instruction.  He  had  seen  our 
teachers  at  work,  and  had  tested,  time  after  time,  the  results  of  the 
teaching,  and  his  conclusion  was  that  the  teaching  was  "  mechanical," 
and  did  not  succeed  in  adequately  developing  the  child's  whole  mind. 
In  contrasting  school  teaching  abroad  and  in  this  countiy,  he  tells 
us :  "  The  methods  of  teaching  in  foreign  schools  are  more  gradual, 
more  natural,  more  rational  than  in  ours,  and  in  speaking  of  foreign 
schools,  I  include  Swiss,  and  French  schools,  as  well  as  German. 
I  often  used  to  ask  myself,  why,  with  such  large  classes,  the  order 
was  in  general  so  thoroughly  good,  and  why,  with  such  long  hours, 
the  children  had  in  general  so  little  look  of  exhaustion  or  fatigue, 
and  the  answer  I  could  not  help  making  to  myself  was  that  the 
cause  lay  in  the  children  being  taught  less  mechanically,  and  more 
naturally  than  with  us,  and  being  more  interested  ....  The  fault 
of  the  teaching  in  our  popular  schools  at  home  is,  as  I  have  often 
said,  that  it  is  so  little  formative.  It  gives  the  children  the  power  to 
read  the  newspapers,  to  write  a  letter,  to  cast  accounts,  and  gives 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  1.35 

them  a  certain  number  of  pieces  of  knowledge,  but  it  does  little  to 
touch  their  nature  for  good  and  to  mould  them." 

Professor  Huxley,  who  examined  the  question  from  an  altogether 
different  standpoint,  has  arrived  at  a  similar  conclusion.  Our 
Education,  he  says,  is  too  bookish,  it  appeals  too  much  to  the 
memory,  too  little  to  the  senses  and  to  the  reasoning  faculties.  The 
concurrence  of  two  such  authorities,  whose  training  and  habits  of 
thought  would  naturally  lead  them  to  approach  the  problem  with 
very  different  educational  sympathies,  supported  as  it  is  by  the 
opinions  of  many  other  educational  authorities,  may  be  considered 
as  conclusive.  But  this  testimony  receives  further  confirmation 
from  practical  men  of  business,  who  generally  endorse  the  views  of 
Lord  Armstrong,  that  "  a  man's  success  in  life  depends  incomparably 
more  upon  his  capacity  for  useful  action,  than  upon  his  acquire- 
ments and  knowledge,  and  the  education  of  the  young  should  there- 
fore be  directed  to  the  developing  of  faculties  and  valuable  qualities 
rather  than  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge." 

The  fact  is  that  during  the  twenty  years  that  have  elapsed 
since  the  passing  of  Mr.  Forster's  Act,  our  ideas  of  the  aims 
and  purpose  of  elementary  education,  and  of  the  means  by  which 
they  may  be  attained  have  undergone  a  considerable  change.  It  is 
not  so  much  knowledge  as  the  power  of  acquiring  knowledge  and  the 
means  of  developing  the  faculties  of  observation,  which  we  expect 
education  to  confer  upon  us.  This  shifting  of  our  position  is  due  to 
a  truer  recognition  of  the  real  object  of  school  training,  and  has  been 
assisted  by  a  comparison  of  foreign  methods  of  instruction  with  our 
own.  During  the  last  ten  years,  a  belief  in  the  defects  of  our  present 
system  has  been  gradually  growing,  and  Code  after  Code  has  been 
introduced  with  the  view  of  indirectly  improving  the  course  of  study 
pursued  in  our  elementary  schools.  I  say,  indirectly,  because  all 
new  regulations  necessarily  operated  through  the  measure  of  the 
aniount  of  grant  they  produced.  In  too  many  cases  the  aim  of 
managers  and  teachers  has  been  to  secure,  not  the  most  efficient  and 
useful  instruction  for  the  children,  but  the  largest  amount  of 
Government  grant.  The  importance  of  Science-teaching  as  a  means 
of  training  the  observing  faculties,  and  of  affording  useful  know- 
ledge has  long  since  been  recognized ;  but  nothing  has  hitherto  been 
more  unsatisfactory  than  the  failure  of  payments  on  results  to 
encourage  Science-teaching  in  our  schools.  Owing  to  the  fact,  that 
the  grant  on  Geography,  as  a  class  subject,  was  equal  to  that  on 
Science,  and  that  geography  was  more  easily  taught,  there  has  been 
an  actual  falling  off  in  the  number  of  children  who  have  been  pre- 
sented in  Science. 

The  number  of  schools,  or  departments  of  schools,  which  have 
taken  Science  as  a  class  subject  has  decreased  from  51  in  1883-4  to 
36  in  1887-8,  and  if  we  look  to  the  statistics  showing  the  number  oi 
children  examined  in  any  branch  of  Science  as  a  specific  subject  we 
find  the  results  equally  unsatisfactory.  From  the  following  table, 
prepared  by  Dr.  Gladstone,*  it  will  be  seen  that  whilst  the  number  or 

*  Journal  of  Society  of  Arts,  Nov.  29th,  1889. 


136 


STATE    EDUCATION. 


children  taking  Science  has  fallen  in  the  five  years  ending  1888  from 
82,965  to  79,985,  the  number  of  children  in  the  Standards  V.,  VI., 
and  VII.,  in  which  the  subject  might  have  been  taught  has  increased 
during  the  same  period  from  286,355  to  472,770,  and  very  note- 
worthy are  the  decreases  in  such  subjects  of  practical  application 
as  Animal  Physiology,  which  underlies  the  laws  of  health,  and 
Magnetism  and  Electricity,  a  knowledge  of  which  in  various  in- 
dustries is  every  day  becoming  more  and  more  important. 


Specific  Subjects—  Children. 

13S2-3. 

1883-4. 

1884-5. 

1S85-6. 

1886-7. 

1S87-3. 

Algebra     . 

26,547 

24,787 

25,347 

25,393 

25,103 

26,448 

Euclid  and  Mensuration 

1,942 

2,010 

1,269 

1,247 

995 

1,006 

Mechanics    . 

2,042 

3,174 

3.527 

4,844 

6,315 

6.961 

Animal  Physiology  . 

22,754 

22,857 

20,869 

18,523 

17,338 

16,940 

Botany 

3,280 

2,604 

2,415 

1,992 

1,589 

l,;-98 

Principles  of  Agriculture 

1,357 

1,859 

1,481 

1,351 

1,137 

1,151 

Chemistry 

1,183 

1,047 

1,095 

1.158 

1.488 

1.808 

Sound,  Light  and  Heat 

630 

1,253 

1,231 

1,334 

1,158 

918 

Magnetism  and  Electricity 

3,643 

3,244 

2,864 

2,951 

2,250 

1,977 

Domestic  Economy       .    . 

19,582 

21,458 

19,437 

19,556 

20,716 

20,787 

Total 

82,965 

84,499 

79,774 

78,477 

78,122 

79,985 

Number  of   Scholars  in\ 
Standards  V.,  VI.,  VII.  / 

286,355 

325,205 

352,860 

393,289 

432,097 

472,770 

According  to  our  present  system,  it  is  the  grant-producing  quality 
of  the  subject  rather  than  its  practical  usefulness  or  its  educational 
value  that  determines  the  extent  to  which  it  is  taught  in  our  public 
elementary  schools.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Code  of  1889,  which 
was  introduced  into  Parliament  and  withdrawn,  would  have  tended 
to  remove  many  of  the  defects  of  the  system  of  which  wre  continue  to 
complain.  The  new  Code  about  to  be  introduced  will  certainly  be 
an  improvement  on  any  previous  code,  and  will  further  tend  to 
•encourage  the  teaching  of  Science,  Drawing,  and  Manual  Exercises. 
But  how  will  this  be  effected  ?  By  making  the  pecuniary  grant  suffi- 
cient to  induce  schools  to  teach  these  subjects.  The  regulation 
requiring  Cookery  to  be  taught  in  girls'  schools,  as  a  condition  of 
paying  a  grant  for  Drawing,  maybe  withdrawn,  and  girls  showing  an 
aptitude  for  Art  may  be  allowed  to  learn  Drawing  without  occupying 
their  time  with  Cookery.  The  teaching  of  Science  may  be 
encouraged  by  placing  it  in  a  more  favoured  position  as  regards 
grant  than  other  subjects.  Freedom  may  be  given  to  school  autho- 
rities to  introduce  the  teaching  of  subjects  for  which  there  exists  a 
local  demand,  without  incurring  pecuniary  loss,  and  Manual  Train- 
ing may  be  recognized  as  a  part  of  primary  education.  But  when 
all  these  alterations  are  made,  the  curriculum  of  our  schools  will  be 
determined  by  that  selection  of  subjects  which  will  produce  the 
maximum  of  grants,  without  any  necessary  reference  to  the  capa- 
bilities of  the  pupils  or  the  requirements  of  the  locality.  The 
commercial  element  will  continue  to  enter  into  the  consideration  of 
every  change  in  the  subjects  of  instruction.  Can  it  be  right  that 
the  character  of  the  course  of  study  shall  be  determined  bv  these 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  137 

monetary  calculations  ?  Members  of  School  Boards  and  managers  of 
elementary  schools  are  well  aware  of  the  extent  to  which  this  com- 
mercial consideration  affects  the  teaching.  Not  only  is  the 
course  of  instruction  the  product  of  careful  calculations  which 
have  for  their  object  the  securing  of  the  greatest  possible  amount  of 
grant,  but  the  teachers  themselves  keep  this  object  in  view  in  all 
their  lessons.  Each  class  must  yield  its  maximum  number  of  passes. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  so  much  reason  as  existed  in  the  cry 
against  "  over-pressure  "  was  due  to  this  cause.  The  effect  of  all 
examinations  in  merely  acquired  knowledge  is  to  obscure  somewhat 
the  true  aims  of  teaching  ;  but  when  the  income  of  the  school  partly 
depends  on  the  results  of  such  examinations,  their  effect  in  this 
direction  is  necessarily  more  marked.  When  we  are  told  by  the 
most  competent  authorities  that  the  teaching  is  mechanical,  that  it 
appeals  to  the  memory  rather  than  to  the  understanding,  that  it  is 
"  so  little  formative,"  and  when  we  know,  that  in  many  schools,  read- 
ing is  taught  so  as  to  secure  fluency  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  without 
regard  to  the  meanir  g  of  the  words  read,  that  answers  to  questions 
in  history  are  too  often  a  jumble  of  phrases,  that  in  other  subjects 
verbal  accuracy  is  secured  at  the  expense  of  intelligent  thought,  one 
cannot  help  feeling  that  undue  stress  is  laid  on  the  results  of  the 
examination,  which  controls,  instead  of  merely  guiding,  the  teaching. 
Various  modifications  of  the  Code  have  been  suggested,  and  some 
have  been  adopted  with  the  view  of  remedying  these  evils.  The 
examination  of  classes  has  been  partly  substituted  for  that  of  indivi- 
dual pupils.  A  general  merit  grant  has  been  added  to  the  other 
numerous  sources  of  revenue.  The  instructions  to  inspectors  have 
been  issued  with  the  greatest  care,  and  with  the  evident  desire  that 
the  examination  should  test  ability  and  intelligence  rather  than 
acquired  knowledge,  but  all  this  availeth  nothing  whilst  the  mercan- 
tile spirit  pervades  the  atmosphere  of  the  school-room,  and  the  Code 
under  which  the  teachers  work,  reads  like  a  price-list  of  pieces  of 
knowledge.  He  who  knew  the  real  worth  of  that  instruction  which  is 
truly  formative  of  character  tells  us  that  "it  is  more  to  be  desired 
than  gold,  Yea,  than  much  fine  gold ;  "  but  the  Code  duly  assesses 
its  value  in  current  coin.  Only  recently,  the  "  Association  for  the  pro- 
motion of  Technical  and  Secondary  •  E ducation  "  has  issued  to  its 
members  some  suggestions  for  the  new  Code  of  1890.  The  objects 
aimed  at  by  these  suggestions  are  excellent ;  but  how  are  they  to  be 
attained?  By  making  higher  pecuniary  bids  for  the  teaching  of 
those  subjects,  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  Association  need  to  be 
encouraged.  "  The  teaching  of  Science  as  a  class  subject  to  be 
encouraged  in  the  Upper  standards  by  an  additional  grant"  Alter- 
native courses  in  specific  subjects,  "  to  receive  a  grant  on  the  same 
principle  as  the  subjects  enumerated  in  Article  15  "  of  the  Code. 
Instruction  in  the  use  of  simple  tools  to  be  introduced  in  the 
Higher  standards,  &n&  "  grants  to  be  paid  thereon."  Elementary 
modelling  to  be  taught  and  "  a  grant  to  be  made  in  connection  there- 
with," and  so  on.  Can  it  be  wondered  at,  that  teachers,  many  of 
whom  have  been  educated  under  this  system,  who  have  served  an 
apprenticeship  as  pupil  teachers  in  these  schools,  who  have  been 


138  STATE    EDUCATION. 

trained  in  Colleges  among  other  students  exclusively  of  the  same 
class  as  themselves,  and  who  have  heard  the  question  of  the  amount 
of  grant  constantly  discussed  by  those  in  authority  over  them,  shall 
grow  up  with  a  mercenary  idea  of  the  true  aims  of  education,  and 
shall  pursue  their  high  calling  under  the  influence  of  an  inseparable 
mental  association  between  good  teaching  and  large  money  grants  ? 

It  would  surely  seem  that  the  time  has  come  when,  instead  of 
adding  grant  unto  grant,  we  should  recognise  that  possibly  the 
mechanical  teaching  of  which  we  complain  may  be  the  result  of  the 
mechanical  methods  by  which  its  value  is  assessed.  To  many  it 
may  seem  that  to  throw  over  the  system  of  payment  on  results  would 
be  to  destroy  the  foundations  on  which  our  national  education  rests. 
Those  who  whether  as  teachers,  managers,  or  inspectors,  have  worked 
under  this  system  throughout  their  entire  life,  naturally  ask  what 
substitute  can  be  suggested  for  the  premiums,  now  offered,  of  half- 
crowns  and  four-shilling  pieces  for  isolated  scraps  of  knowledge  in 
different  branches  of  learning.  The  answer  is,  no  substitute  is 
needed.  Do  the  Charity  Commissioners  dole  forth  their  endowments 
to  the  governors  of  secondary  schools  according  to  the  number  of 
pupils  who  pass  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Locals  or  any  other 
public  examination  ;  or  do  they  make  the  amount  of  their  contribu- 
tion depend  on  such  results  ?  I  have  elsewhere  stated :  "  The 
restrictions  under  which  the  elementary  schoolmaster  works  require 
to  be  relaxed.  There  is  no  essential  difference  between  his  duties 
and  responsibilities  and  those  of  the  head  master  of  a  middle  class 
school  largely  dependent  on  endowments  for  support."*  The  system 
which  is  found  to  work  well  in  schools  of  higher  grade  would  work 
equally  well  in  elementary  schools.  "  What  is  needed  in  both  cases 
is  that  the  teacher  shall  be  well  trained,  and  that  the  inspection  shall 
be  thorough."  We  have  only  to  attempt  to  realise  the  effect  of  intro- 
ducing payment  on  results  into  our  secondary  schools  to  recognise 
the  full  force  of  the  arguments  for  abolishing  it  in  our  elementary 
schools.  I  venture  to  prophesy  that  if  all  reference  to  grants  for 
special  subjects  or  individual  passes  were  removed  from  our  Code, 
the  directions  of  the  Code  would  be  no  less  faithfully  observed  than 
they  now  are,  and  the  character  of  the  teaching  would  be  gradually 
improved.  Moreover,  if  such  a  new  departure  could  be  made,  very 
few  years  would  elapse  before  the  staunchest  advocates  of  the 
system  would  express  surprise  that  it  was  so  long  tolerated,  and  that 
the  results  were  not  still  more  unsatisfactory  than  they  have  proved 
to  be.  There  exists  a  general  impression,  which  the  mercantile 
spirit  of  the  Code  tends  to  foster,  that  teachers  are  only  kept  up  to 
the  mark  by  the  knowledge  that  the  amount  of  Government  grant 
depends  on  the  result  of  the  Inspector's  report.  So  strong  was  this 
belief  for  many  years,  that  the  Government  grant  formed  part  of  the 
teacher's  salary,  and  in  many  places  the  teachers  continue  to  have  a 
share  in  it.  But  experience  has  shown  that  this  particular  kind  ot 
incentive  to  painstaking  teaching  is  productive  of  more  harm  than 
good,  and  the  system  of  paying  the  teacher  a  fixed  salary  is  now 

*  « Industrial  Education  "  (Kegan  Paul  &  Co.),  p.  113. 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  139 

generally  preferred ;  and  where  this  system  has  been  introduced,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  School  Board  for  London,  the  teaching  is  found 
to  be  improved.  But  if  the  teacher's  salary  is  made  independent  of 
results  the  main  argument  in  favour  of  the  retention  of  the  payment 
on  results  loses  its  force. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  of  H.  M.'s  Inspectors,  that  if  they 
were  deprived  of  the  power  of  making  the  State  contribution 
towards  the  school  income  depend,  to  some  extent,  on  the  efficiency 
of  the  teaching  as  tested  by  results,  their  influence  in  screwing  up 
the  school  to  higher  excellence  would  be  seriously  impaired.  But  I 
very  much  doubt  whether  in  actual  practice,  this  would  be  found  to 
be  the  case.  The  importance  rightly  attached  to  the  report  and  to 
the  recommendations  of  the  Inspectors  is  quite  independent  of  the 
grant-distributing  quality  with  which  they  are  weighted.  Indeed,  in 
many  cases  the  system  works  most  unfairly,  the  larger  grant  being 
withdrawn  from  a  school,  which  on  account  of  its  less  efficiency  is 
often  the  more  in  need  of  funds.  Teachers  are  not  permanent 
institutions  :  they  are  liable  to  dismissal  if  found  incompetent ;  and 
sufficient  incentive  to  good  teaching,  apart  from  its  own  stimulating 
effect,  is  found  in  the  praise  or  blame  they  receive  on  the  result  of 
the  Inspectors'  reports. 

But  it  will  be  said  that  whilst  "  payment  on  results  "  might  be 
easily  abolished  in  the  case  of  the  majority  of  schools  under  School 
Board  management,  the  stimulus  it  affords  is  needed  in  the  case  of 
Voluntary  Schools  which  are  under  no  similar  public  control.  I 
think,  however,  it  may  be  assumed  that  what  the  public  really  care 
for,  is  not  so  much  the  control  of  Voluntary  Schools  as  the 
assurance  and  guarantee  that  they  are  thoroughly  efficient  and 
properly  managed.  Voluntary  Schools,  receiving  state  aid  are  even 
now  subjected  by  H.M.'s  Inspectors  to  some  measure  of  public 
superintendence.  If  the  inspection  is  imperfect  or  inadequate,  if  it 
is  not  sufficiently  frequent,  or  sufficiently  thorough,  to  afford  the 
guarantee  which  the  public  has  a  right  to  require,  of  the  efficiency 
of  the  schools  inspected,  the  remedy  lies,  not  in  continuing  the 
system  of  payment  on  results,  which  is  after  all  a  mere  mechanical 
method  of  testing  the  efficiency,  but  in  improving  and  strengthening 
the  inspection ;  and  in  this  suggestion,  I  venture  to  think,  will  be 
found  the  looked  for  substitute  for  payment  on  results. 

If  grants  on  results  were  abolished,  schools  would  be  maintained 
as  they  now  are  from  two  or  three  sources,  according  as  school  fees 
are  retained  or  abandoned.  The  sources  of  income  would  be : 
(1)  Local  Aid,  whether  in  the  form  of  rates  or  subscriptions, 
supplemented  or  not  by  school  fees  ;  and  (2)  Government  Grant. 
What  is  wanted,  is  that  the  Government  grant  should  be  a  fixed  sum 
per  unit  of  average  attendance,  and  that  the  payment  of  this  sum 
should  be  independent  of  results.  To  secure,  and  to  afford  the 
necessary  assurance  of,  efficiency,  changes  would  have  to  be  made  in 
our  system  of  inspection.  In  addition  to  H.M.'s  Inspectors,  who 
would  visit  each  school,  as  now,  and  report  to  the  Education 
Department,  district  Inspectors  should  be  appointed  by  the  School 
Board  or  other  local  authority.  It  would  be  the  duty  of  the  district 


I4C  STATE    EDUCATION, 

Inspectors  to  visit  the  schools  under  their  charge  more  frequently 
than  they  are  visited  by  the  Government  Inspector,  to  report  to  the 
authority  appointing  them,  and  to  assist  the  managers  and  teachers 
in  giving  effect  to  the  recommendations  and  suggestions  of  H.M.'s 
Inspectors.  The  withdrawal  of  the  Government  grant,  which  would 
lead  to  the  closing  of  the  school,  would  be  the  ultimate  penalty  of 
inefficiency ;  and  it  would  be  better  that  inefficient  schools  should 
be  closed  than  that  they  should  continue  to  be  carried  on  with  means 
inadequate  to  their  proper  maintenance.  It  may  be,  that  the  managers 
of  voluntary  schools  would  resent  this  further  outside  interference 
with  their  work ;  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  supporters 
of  denominational  schools,  if  they  wish  to  continue  to  retain  in 
their  own  hands  the  practical  management  of  their  schools,  must  be 
prepared  to  give  the  public  some  further  guarantee  of  efficienc};, 
than  is  at  present  afforded  by  the  annual  report  of  the  Government 
Inspector. 

In  France,  the  system  of  inspection  is  much  more  developed  than 
in  this  country.  "French  schools,"  says  a  recent  writer  on  the 
subject,  "  are  certainly  not  under-inspected.  They  are  subject  to 
six  or  seven  inspections ;  to  wit,  inspectors-general,  rectors  and 
inspectors  of  the  academy,  primary  inspectors,  members  of  the 
Departmental  Council  (who  are  not  teachers),  the  mayor  and 
Cantonal  delegates  (for  sanitation)  and  the  medical  inspector."* 
In  the  French  system,  there  are  three  grades  of  inspectors  ;  the 
Primary  inspectors,  the  Academy  inspector,  and  the  Inspector- 
General.  The  Primary  inspector  has  to  report  on  each  separate 
c'lass,  with  observations  on  the  condition  of  the  school,  the  course  of 
instruction  and  suggestions  for  improvements,  and  he  also  reports  on 
•each  teacher.  The  Academy  Inspector,  whose  duties  comprise  the 
inspection  of  all  educational  institutions  in  his  district,  inspects  the 
schools  to  see  that  the  Education  Acts  are  properly  carried  out. 
He  has  also  "  to  arrange  for  the  examination  of  teachers  and  training 
•colleges.  It  is  his  business  to  oppose  the  opening  of  a  private  school 
where,  in  his  opinion,  it  is  undesirable.  He  also  has  to  undertake 
the  censure,  reprimand,  and  provisional  suspension  of  unsatisfactory 
teachers.  The  actual  dismissal  of  a  teacher  is  the  duty  of  the 
Prefet  or  chief  magistrate  of  the  Department.  The  Academy 
Inspector  reports  to  the  Departmental  Council  of  Education,  which 
is  responsible  for  establishing  and  maintaining  schools  in  the 
Department.  The  Inspectors-General  are  fewr  in  number  and  act  as 
advisers  to  the  Minister  of  Education."  t 

With  the  abolition  of  payment  on  results,  the  Education  Depart- 
ment would  continue  to  prescribe,  through  its  Code,  the  course  of 
study  to  be  pursued  in  all  elementary  schools  receiving  state  aid  ; 
and  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  Government  inspector  to  see  that  the 
provisions  of  the  Code  are  faithfully  observed.  Within  the  lines 
laid  down  by  the  Code,  there  should  be  considerable  latitude  for  the 


*  "Elementary  Education  at  the  Paris  Exhibiiior,'    by  J.  G.  Rooper  (Charity 
Organisation  Review,  February,  1890).i 
f  Ibid. 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  141 

adaptation  of  the  teaching  to  local  needs ;  but  it  is  far  better  that 
the  general  character  of  the  instruction  should  be  settled  by  a 
competent  central  authority  than  that  it  should  be  left  to  the  caprice 
and  independent  judgment  of  different  groups  of  managers  or 
teachers.  The  fund-subscribing  public  will  always  look  to  the  fund- 
distributing  government  for  a  guarantee  that  the  children  receive  a 
thorough  and  serviceable  education. 

As  regards  the  Code  itself,  there  is  now  some  approach  to 
agreement  as  to  the  character  of  the  changes  needed  to  make 
our  elementary  instruction  more  practical  and  more  useful.  It  is 
generally  admitted  that  all  boys,  from  whom  our  future  artizans 
will  be  selected,  should  learn  linear  drawing,  and  that  the  teaching 
of  freehand  and  model  drawing  should  be  encouraged  both  among 
boys  and  girls,  and  especially  among  those  who  show  any  artistic 
skill.  To  these,  also,  modelling  in  clay  should  be  taught ;  but  it 
is  very  undesirable  that  such  instruction,  except  as  a  Kindergarten 
exercise,  should  be  given  to  children,  who  have  no  taste  for  it,  with 
the  mere  object  of  earning  a  grant.  Teachers  and  managers  may 
be  trusted  to  develop  the  artistic  aptitude  which  any  of  the  children 
in  their  schools  may  exhibit,  if,  without  injury  to  the  school  income, 
they  are  free  to  substitute  drawing  and  modelling  for  some  other 
branch  of  study,  or  some  other  form  of  manual  training. 

On  the  advantage  of  instruction  in  the  use  of  tools,  as  a  form 
of  manual  training,  public  opinion  is  no  longer  divided.  The 
hesitating  recommendation  of  the  Commissioners  on  Technical 
Instruction  in  their  first  Keport,  followed  up  by  the  more  decided 
recommendation  in  their  final  Keport,  and  supported  by  the 
strenuous  efforts  of  more  than  one  member  of  the  Commission, 
has  resulted  in  the  introduction,  with  excellent  results,  of  work- 
shop instruction,  sometimes  under  the  name  of  Slqjd,  into  a  large 
number  of  schools.  These  results  have  received  no  encouragement 
by  way  of  grants,  but  they  have  been  none  the  less  satisfactory. 
The  experiment  tried  by  the  School  Board  for  London,  with  funds 
supplied  by  the  City  Companies,  has  been  sufficiently  successful 
to  justify  its  extension.  Other  School  Boards,  notably  that  of 
Liverpool,  are  now  engaged  in  giving  workshop  teaching  in  some 
of  the  schools  under  their  charge,  and  many  of  the  voluntary 
schools  are  adopting  it.  There  is  no  doubt  that  children  are 
deeply  interested  in  any  form  of  teaching  which  occupies  their 
hand;  and  the  advantage  of  manual  training  as  an  educational 
discipline  consists  in  this,  that  it  arouses  attentiveness,  exercises 
the  eye  in  observing  accurately,  and  at  the  same  time  stimulates 
thought.  Drawing,  by  itself,  is  a  most  useful  part  of  manual 
training,  but  it  needs  to  be  supplemented  by  some  constructive 
work.  The  experience  of  the  well-known  school  of  the  Eue 
Tournefort,  Paris,  that  the  time  devoted  to  manual  exercises  in 
no  way  interferes  with,  but  rather  stimulates,  the  children's  pro- 
gress in  other  studies  has  been  generally  confirmed  by  the  results 
obtained  in  other  schools.  Every  one  now  knows,  or  should  know, 
that  handicraft  instruction  in  a  school  is  quite  distinct  from  trade- 
teaching  in  a  shop.  The  methods  and  the  end  in  view  are  dif- 


142  STATE    EDUCATION. 

ferent.  In  the  school,  as  well  as  in  the  shop,  skill  is  necessarily 
acquired,  but  in  the  one  it  is  intelligent,  in  the  other  mechanical. 
In  the  school,  the  aim  is  to  develop  thought  by  means  of  hand 
and  eye  training ;  in  the  shop,  the  aim  is  to  secure  manual  dexterity 
only. 

To  the  French  people  is  undoubtedly  due  the  initiation  of  this 
important  movement  in  popular  education.  During  the  last  ten 
years,  manual  instruction  has  been  gradually  introduced  into  nearly 
all  the  primary  schools  of  France,  and  is  continued  and  developed 
in  the  higher  elementary  and  apprenticeship  schools.  Student- 
teachers,  in  French  normal  colleges,  are  now  required,  as  a  part 
of  their  training,  to  take  a  course  of  workshop  instruction,  and 
the  most  sceptical  observer  must  have  been  convinced  of  the  value 
of  this  teaching,  by  the  splendid  show  of  school  work  at  the  Paris 
Exhibition.  "  It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  no  such  exhibit  of 
educational  buildings,  apparatus,  furniture,  methods  of  teaching 
and  work  accomplished  by  scholars  has  ever  been  seen  before," 
writes  Dr.  Butler  of  New  York.  The  advocates  of  manual  training 
have  had  to  encounter  two  classes  of  objectors : — those  who  fail  to 
see  the  difference  between  teaching  carpentry  as  a  trade  and  as 
an  intellectual  exercise,  and  those  who  argue  that  as  the  majority 
of  children,  trained  in  our  elementary  schools,  will  be  occupied 
during  their  whole  life  with  manual  pursuits,  their  too  brief  school 
life  should  be  devoted  to  studies  that  tend  to  inculcate  a  love  of 
reading,  and  will  afford  them  useful  knowledge.  The  inspection 
of  school  children  at  work  under  a  competent  and  trained  teacher, 
not  a  mere  mechanic,  but  one  who  understands  the  objects  and 
methods  of  manual  training,  will  at  once  indicate  the  difference 
between  school  teaching  and  trade  teaching  in  the  workshop ;  and 
the  experience  already  acquired  shows  that  practical  instruction  in 
woodwork  and  drawing  is  not  only  helpful  to  a  child  in  his  sub- 
sequent work,  but  enables  him  to  give  closer  attention  to  his 
ordinary  studies  and  to  derive  more  real  benefit  from  them.  Lord 
Armstrong  very  justly  says:  "Except  in  teaching  the  art  of 
drawing,  no  attempt  is  at  present  made  to  educate  the  hand. 
The  addition  of  drawing  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
and  would  afford  a  useful  accomplishment,  but  would  not  supply 
all  that  is  needed  for  giving  dexteriJyy  to  the  hand.  Appropriate 
exercises  ought  to  be  devised  for  cultivating  its  mobility,  pre- 
cision and  delicacy  in  touch ;  and,  if  in  so  doing,  the  ability  to 
use  simple  tools  were  acquired,  it  would  be  advantageous  in  any 
line  of  life  that  might  be  ultimately  adopted."  * 

Notwithstanding  the  practice  of  the  school  of  the  Rue  Tournefort, 
it  is  now  generally  recognized  that  children  should  not  commence  to 
use  tools  at  a  very  young  age,  and  that  the  instruction  is  most  profit- 
ably pursued  in  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  Standards.  To  prevent  any 
break  of  continuity  in  the  manual  training  of  the  child  from  the  time 
when  he  leaves  the  Infant  School,  some  continuation  of  Kindergarten 
exercises  is  needed ;  and  this,  it  is  now  suggested  to  supply,  under 

*  "Nineteenth  Century,"  Jane,  1888. 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  143 

the  name  of  Advanced  Kindergarten.  A  scheme  for  such  instruction 
has  been  carefully  thought  out  by  Mr.  Kicks,  the  London  School 
Board  Inspector,  and  comprises  exercises  in  paper-work,  colour- 
work,  cardboard-work,  clay-work,  and  wood-work.  These  exercises 
continue  the  Kindergarten  teaching,  from  the  time  when  children 
leave  the  Infant  school,  till  they  are  fit  to  commence  workshop  in- 
struction. Throughout  these  exercises  drawing  is  combined  with 
construction  and  design.  The  children  have  to  make  patterns  in- 
volving arrangements  of  form  and  colour.  They  construct  geometrical 
and  other  models  out  of  simple  materials,  and  thus  combine  outline 
ornamentation  with  the  application  of  colour  to  design.  In  this 
way,  besides  acquiring  some  skill  in  constructive  work,  they  learn 
the  simple  geometrical  properties  of  surface  and  solid  figures,  and 
the  rudiments  of  ornamental  art.  Modelling  in  clay  is  a  valuable 
addition  to  such  exercises,  and  one  of  never-failing  interest  to  chil- 
dren. Mr.  Kicks  is  quite  right  in  saying  that  "  unless  the  element 
of  construction  is  added,  drawing  must  fail  to  yield  the  full  measure 
of  good  which  may  be  expected  from  it."  The  hand  and  eye  train- 
ing which  this  system  of  Advanced  Kindergarten  helps  to  develop, 
affords  an  opportunity  of  determining  to  some  extent  the  taste  and 
special  aptitudes  of  the  children  under  instruction,  and  of  ascertain- 
ing which  of  them  might  with  advantage  receive  further  training 
in  drawing  and  designing. 

Another  development  of  Kindergarten  should  be  in  the  direction  of 
Natural  Science,  which,  by  means  of  object-lessons,  should  be  taught 
throughout  the  Standards.  The  failure  of  the  grant  system  to  pro- 
mote sound  science-teaching  has  been  already  referred  to.  There 
is  little  doubt  that  if  the  amount  of  grant  no  longer  depended  on 
results,  as  tested  by  examination,  and  if  all  schools  to  be  accounted 
efficient,  and  so  to  receive  State  aid,  were  required  to  give  some 
instruction  in  Science,  this  blot  on  our  present  system  would  be 
removed. 

It  is  quite  possible,  that  owing  to  the  consensus  of  opinion  on  this 
subject,  the  new  Code  may  give  further  encouragement  to  the  teach- 
ing of  Science  in  our  schools.  But  even  so,  the  principle  that  will 
regulate  the  selection  of  subjects,  the  methods  of  teaching,  and  the 
time  devoted  to  it,  will  be  a  wrong  one.  Monetary  considerations, 
rather  than  local  needs,  will  enter  into  the  calculations  of  most 
school  managers. 

If  drawing,  handicraft,,  and  science,  are  to  be  taught  throughout 
the  Standards,  it  necessarily  follows  that  time  must  be  found  by 
sacrificing  some  subject  of  the  present  curriculum  ;  and  it  is,  I  think, 
generally  agreed  that  the  more  advanced  parts  of  English  grammar 
can  best  be  spared.  The  children  of  our  working  classes  will  find 
themselves  very  little,  if  any,  worse  off  in  later  life,  if  during  their 
short  school  course  they  devote  considerably  less  time  to  the  study 
of  the  complicated  rules  for  the  analysis  of  sentences.  In  the  hands 
of  a  good  teacher  some  amount  of  mental  discipline  may  be  evolved 
from  lessons  on  the  several  forms  of  the  extension  of  the  subject  and 
predicate  of  a  sentence,  and  on  the  definitions  of  the  different  parts 
of  speech.  But  how  much  of  this  acquired  knowledge  will  a  child 


144  STATE    EDUCATION. 

retain  a  year  after  he  has  left  school  ?  It  has  been  fixed  in  the 
mind  by  nothing  that  appeals  to  the  senses.  Acquired  with  great 
difficulty,  it  is  never  likely  to  be  applied.  It  is  altogether  out  of 
touch  with  the  future  thoughts,  experiences,  and  occupations  of  the 
child.  The  links  of  association  necessary  to  revive  it  are  not  likely 
to  exist.  Can  it  be  said  that  such  exercises  create, — what  is  most 
desirable, — a  love  of  reading,  or  even  an  intelligent  appreciation  of 
the  beauty  of  the  passages  that  are  subjected  to  this  process  of 
analysis  ?  Surely  school  life  is  too  short  to  be  occupied  with 
cumbering  the  memory  with  useless  freight  that  will  be  thrown 
overboard  as  soon  as  the  child  is  fairly  launched  in  life.  The  science 
of  education  has  happily  shown  that  there  are  other  subjects  of 
instruction  which  yield  even  more  mental  discipline  and  are  at  the 
same  time  practically  useful.  Let  grammar,  then,  and,  to  some 
extent,  spelling  also,  give  place  to  them  ! 

If  our  elementary  education  is  to  be  reorganised  on  some  such 
lines  as  I  have  indicated,  a  certain  definite  direction  must  be  given 
to  it,  which  managers  and  teachers,  unfettered  by  any  considera- 
tions of  the  grant-earning  capacity  of  the  scholars,  will  be  required 
to  follow.  This  direction  should  be  indicated  by  the  Code,  and  it 
would  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  see  that  the  regulations  of 
the  Code  are  duly  enforced.  The  Code  should  determine  the  general 
curriculum  of  the  school.  It  should  prescribe  the  studies  and  the 
degree  of  efficiency  in  each  subject,  which  each  standard  might  be 
expected  to  reach.  It  should  regulate  the  division  of  time  between 
practical  and  other  studies,  and  the  time-table  of  each  teacher 
should  be  approved,  as  now,  by  the  chief  inspector.  But,  within 
certain  limits,  considerable  freedom  as  to  subjects,  methods  and 
arrangements  should  be  left  to  the  managers  and  teachers.  The 
Code  should  assist  the  managers  and  teachers  by  indicating  the 
range  of  progressive  lessons  in  different  groups  of  subjects,  from 
which  a  selection  might  be  made,  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and 
local  requirements  of  each  particular  district.  If  the  fetters  of 
"pajonent  by  results"  were  removed,  there  would  be  more  elasticity 
in  the  teaching,  and  each  school,  within  the  general  lines  laid  down, 
would  develop  according  to  its  needs.  Moreover,  a  better  educated 
and  more  cultivated  class  of  persons  would  be  attracted  to  the 
teacher's  profession ;  and  before  long,  we  should  find,  that  intelli- 
gent teaching  had  taken  the  place  of  the  mechanical  drill,  which  is 
incidental  to  the  present  system  of  distributing  State  aid. 

There  is  another  change,  more  closely  connected  with  the  one 
here  advocated  than  is  generally  supposed,  to  which  many  of  us  now 
hopefully  look  forward.  As  a  measure  of  justice  to  the  poorer 
classes,  and  as  relieving  the  teachers  from  irksome,  onerous  and 
anxious  duties,  which  largely  interfere  with  strictly  educational 
work,  the  abolition  of  school  fees  is  a  reform  urgently  needed,  and 
one  which  in  many  interests  should  not  be  long  delayed.  I  believe, 
however,  that  this  reform  might  be  more  easily  accomplished,  if 
undertaken  in  conjunction  with  such  changes  in  our  Code,  as  would 
enable  us  to  dispense  with  "payment  on  results." 

The  three   planks    that    constitute   the    platform   of    the  new 


TECHNICAL    INSTRUCTION.  145 

educational  departure  are  (1)  Abolition  of  payment  on  results  ;  (2) 
Practical  teaching ;  (3)  Free  Schools ;  and  I  have  placed  them  in 
the  order  of  importance.  1  believe  that  a  great  part  of  the  difficulty 
raised  by  the  question  of  the  existence  and  public  control  of 
voluntary  schools  might  be  met  by  extending  and  strengthening  our 
system  of  inspection.  Indeed,  I  think  that  the  two  questions  of 
"  pa}Tment  on  results"  and  "school  fees"  might  be  more  easily 
considered  together  than  apart.  The  question  of  "  free  schools  "  is 
no  longer  an  open  one.  The  principle,  at  least,  is  conceded.  What 
T7e  want  is  to  discover  a  means  of  reconciling  with  free  education 
the  continued  existence  of  really  efficient  voluntary  schools,  and  of 
providing,  whilst  leaving  them  to  a  great  extent  under  denomina- 
tional contiol,  a  public  guarantee  of  their  efficiency.  The  problem, 
although  a  difficult  one,  should  not  defy  solution.  It  demands, 
however,  separate  and  careful  consideration.  What  I  now  urge  is, 
that  precedence  be  given  to  the  question  of  "  payment  on  results  "; 
and,  I  believe,  that  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  ensure  the  efficiency 
of  our  schools,  without  recourse  to  this  much- abused  system,  will 
open  the  door  to  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  Free  Schools. 

PHILIP  MAGNUS. 


VOL,  I, 


PART    XI. 

NEW   CODE   FOE   1890. 

THE  new  code  for  1890,  which  has  recently  heen  laid  before 
Parliament  and  which  is  to  come  into  force  on  the  1st  September 
next,  marks  a  very  distinct  advance  in  the  system  of  elementary 
education  in  this  country.  The  recommendations  of  the  late  Royal 
Commission  on  Education  have  been  much  more  extensively 
embodied  than  in  the  ill-fated  draft  code  of  last  year — a  circum- 
stance which  largely  accounts  for  its  more  favourable  reception. 

It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  even  this  measure  treats  with 
sufficient  boldness  the  various  points  needing  improvement  in  our 
educational  system — witness,  for  instance,  the  hesitating  manner  in 
which  ampler  opportunities  of  self-culture  are  claimed  for  pupil 
teachers.  Compared,  however,  with  previously  existing  arrange- 
ments, and  viewed  merely  as  a  considerable  instalment  of  the 
improvements  needed,  the  new  Code  of  1890  is  an  important  step 
in  advance. 

In  the  following  sketch  of  its  contents  the  provisions  have  been 
grouped  under  different  heads,  and  in  notes  at  foot  have  been  given, 
as  far  as  possible,  references  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Royal 
Commission  upon  which  the  new  regulations  have  been  based. 

Though  the  general  framework  of  the  Code  is  similar  to  that  of 
its  immediate  predecessors,  the  document  differs  so  much  from  them, 
both  in  substance  and  in  wording,  as  to  be  practically  an  entirely 
new  one.  Accordingly  the  schedule  of  changes  which  is  usually 
appended  to  each  new  edition  of  the  Education  Department's  regu- 
lations is  omitted  on  the  present  occasion.  Many  of  the  changes, 
however,  are  merely  formal,  and  have  in  view  rather  the  rendering 
of  the  document  self-consistent  and  in  harmony  with  the  actual 
practice  of  the  Department  than  the  introduction  of  new  provisions. 

General  Conditions. — Except  in  one  respect  these  do  not  differ 
very  materially  from  those  in  previous  editions  of  the  Code. 

The  school  must  be  a  public  elementary  school ;  children  must 
not  be  refused  on  other  than  reasonable  grounds  ;  the  provisions  of 
the  Elementary  Education  Act,  1870,  in  respect  of  Time  Tables  must 
be  complied  with  ;  the  school  must  not  be  unnecessary  ;  it  must  not 
be  conducted  for  private  profit — this  provision  being,  not  altogether 
unnecessarily,  emphasized  on  the  present  occasion  by  an  added  pro- 
hibition of  the  school  being  "  farmed  out  by  the  managers  to  the 
teacher ;  "  it  must,  if  a  day  school,  have  met  not  less  than  400 
times — with  exceptions  in  case  of  epidemics  or  elections,  &c.,  &c. — 


NEW    CODE    FOR    1890.  147 

with  certain  conditions  as  to  premises,  staff,  furniture,  apparatus, 
instruction  and  registers,  upon  which  later  provisions  dwell  more  in 
detail.  A  schedule  of  building  regulations  is  added  to  which  in 
future  all  new  schools  or  enlargements  of  existing  schools  must 
conform,  but  which  are  not  otherwise  to  apply  to  schools  now  in 
operation.  The  material  change  is  that  which  provides  for  the 
entire  withholding  of  the  grant  in  case  of  continued  inefficiency ; 
before  however  this  course  can  be  resorted  to,  the  Inspector  must 
report  "  specifically  the  grounds  "  of  his  adverse  judgment,  and  "  the 
Department  must,  with  the  report,  give  formal  warning  to  the 
managers  that  the  grant  may  be  withheld  ...  at  the  next  annual 
inspection,  if  the  Inspector  again  reports  the  school  ...  to  be 
inefficient ;  "  while  even  in  the  event  of  a  second  unfavourable 
report  the  managers  are  to  be  allowed  an  appeal  to  the  Chief 
Inspector  against  the  Inspector's  decision,  and  in  that  case  it  is 
only  in  the  event  of  the  unfavourable  report  being  confirmed  by 
that  of  the  Chief  Inspector  that  the  grant  is  to  be  withdrawn. 

A  copy  of  the  accounts  of  the  school  and  a  notice  that  the  report 
may  be  seen  at  the  school  is  to  be  posted  for  at  least  14  days  on  the 
school-door  or  on  some  other  public  place  in  the  school  district 
immediately  upon  receipt  of  the  annual  report.*  In  these  accounts 
express  permission  is  now  given  to  include  the  salary  paid  to  a 
teacher  of  drawing,  manual  instruction  or  laundry  work  whether 
such  teacher  is  "  at  a  central  class  "  or  is  "a  peripatetic  teacher  "  ; 
this  is  an  extension  of  the  like  permission  previously  given  in  respect 
of  teachers  of  drill,  cookery,  or  any  other  special  subject. 

Subjects  of  Instruction. — The  subjects  for  which  grants  may  be 
made,  are,  as  in  previous  Codes,  divided  primarily  into  "  Obligatory" 
and  "  Optional  "  subjects,  and  the  latter  subdivided  into  (1)  such  as 
are  "  taken  by  classes  throughout  the  school,"  and  (2)  such  as 
are  "  taken  by  individual  children  in  the  upper  classes  of  the 
school  " — a  third  group,  consisting  of  subjects  taken  only  by  girls, 
being  added  in  the  present  Code.  The  "  obligatory  "  subjects  con- 
sist of  the  three  "  elementary  subjects  " — Beading,  Writing  and 
Arithmetic — of  Needlework  for  girls  in  Day  Schools,  and  of  Draw- 
ing for  boys  in  other  than  Infant  Schools  I — the  grant,  however,  for 
this  last  subject  is  to  be  made  by  the  Science  and  Art,  and  not  by 
the  Education,  Department.  The  "  optional  subjects  "  taken  by 
classes  consist  of  Singing,  Kecitation,  Drawing  for  boys  in  Infant 
Schools,  and  of  the  subjects  called  as  heretofore  "  Class  Subjects," 
viz.  : — English,  Geography,  Elementary  Science,  History,  and  (for 
girls)  Needlework — the  special  preference  hitherto  given  to  English 
being  abolished.!  The  "optional  subjects"  taken  by  individual 
children  are,  as  before,  called  "  Specific  Subjects  "  and  consist  not 
only  of  those  included  in  former  Codes — Algebra,  Euclid,  Men- 
suration, Mechanics,  Chemistry,  Physics,  Animal  Physiology, 
Botany,  Principles  of  Agriculture,  Latin,  French,  and  (for  girls) 
Domestic  Economy — but  also  of  four  others  introduced  now  for  the 

*  Kecommendations  13  and  21. 
t  Recommendations  99  and  117. 
J  Recommendation  90. 
L   2 


148  STATE    EDUCATION. 

first  time — Welsh  (for  schools  in  Wales),*  German,  Bookkeeping,  and 
Shorthand.  The  u  optional  subjects  "  taken  only  by  girls  include 
the  new  one  of  "  Laundry  Work  "  as  well  as  the  former  one  of 
"  Cookery."  It  is  further  provided,  as  before,  that  any  other  subject 
besides  those  previously  enumerated  may,  "if  sanctioned  by  the 
Department,"  be  taken  as  a  Specific  Subject  for  a  grant ;  and  the 
right  of  Managers  to  provide  instruction  "  in  other  secular  subjects, 
and  in  religious  subjects  "  for  which  no  grant  is  made,  again  receives 
distinct  recognition.  It  is  not,  of  course,  contemplated  that  all 
these  subjects  shall  be  taken  by  the  same  children  or  even  in  the 
same  school.  Of  the  optional  subjects,  no  scholar  may  take,  in 
addition  to  Singing  and  Recitation,  more  than  two  of  the  Class,  and 
two  of  the  Specific  Subjects — the  latter  being  moreover  limited  ex- 
clusively to  children  presented  for  examination  in  a  Standard  above 
the  Fourth.  Girls  who  take  Cookery  do  so  to  the  exclusion  of  one 
of  the  Specific  Subjects,  and  Laundry  Work  to  the  exclusion  either 
of  Cookery  or  of  the  other  Specific  Subject. 

Besides  the  subjects  for  which  grants  are  provided,  permission  is 
given  for  Manual  Instruction,  Physical  Exercises,  and  (for  boys) 
Military  Drill  to  be  taught  in  the  two  hours  required  in  a  Day 
School  to  make  "up  the  minimum  time  constituting  an  attendance;  " 
and  also  for  instruction  in  these  subjects — as  well  as  in  Drawing, 
Science,  Cookery,  and  Laundry  Work — to  be  given  elsewhere  than 
"  in  the  school  premises  "  and  by  other  than  "  the  ordinary  teachers 
of  the  school."  No  syllabus  for  "  Manual  Instruction  "  is  laid  down 
nor  any  grant  for  its  instruction  provided — the  subject  being  scarcely 
more  capable  of  individual  examination  than  Cookery  or  Laundry 
Work,  and  therefore  not  one  that  can  be  taken  as  a  Specific  Subject. 
The  suggestion  that  is  made  in  Art.  85  (b)  that  Manual  Instruction 
may  be  directly  connected  with  Drawing  may  perhaps  point  to  its 
being,  like  that  subject,  encouraged  by  a  grant  from  the  Science  and 
Art  Department. 

Syllabuses. — Of  the  Elementary  Subjects  and  of  those  of  the 
Specific  Subjects  which  were  included  in  previous  Codes,  syllabuses 
not  differing  materially  from  those  of  former  years  are  given  in  the 
Schedules.  But  of  the  new  Specific  Subjects  syllabuses  have  not 
yet  been  prepared,  and  those  of  the  Class  Subjects  have  been  largely 
remodelled — that  for  History  being  entirely  new.  I  With  regard  to 
the  Class  Subjects,  however,  a  most  valuable  feature  has  been  intro- 
duced in  the  form  of  "Alternative  Courses,"  J  of  which  no  less  than 
four  are  given  for  the  one  subject  "  English,"  three  for  Geography, 
one  for  Geography  and  History  combined,  and  as  many  as  eight  for 
elementary  Science,  §  each  of  which  provides  for  a  series  of  systema- 
tized object  lessons  being  given  in  Standards  I.  and  II.  preparatory 
to  the  more  definite  teaching  in  the  later  standards.)]  Of  the 
alternative  courses  in  English  and  Geography,  one  is  in  each  case 

*  Recommendation  108. 
•f  Recommendations  95  to  98. 
J  Recommendation  88. 
§  Recommendation  120. 
II  Recommendation  121. 


NEW    CODE    FOR    1890.  149 

specially  prepared  for  use  in  small  rural  schools.  Not  content  with 
even  this  provision  for  elasticity,  the  Code  concedes  to  Managers  per- 
mission, in  respect  both  of  Class  and  of  Specific  Subjects,  to  frame 
courses  of  their  own,  merely  requiring  that  they  shall  obtain  the 
approval  of  the  Inspector  of  the  district.* 

Examination  of  Scholars. — With  regard  to  Infant  Schools  no 
alteration  is  made  in  this  respect ;  but  in  the  examination  of  schools 
for  older  scholars  most  important  changes  are  introduced.  Indi- 
vidual examination  in  the  elementary  subjects  is  no  longer  to  be 
universal ;  but,  instead,  "  the  scholars  will  be  examined,  as  a  rule, 
by  sample,  not  less  than  one-third  being  individually  examined," 
though  "if  the  Managers  so  desire,"  scholars  in  Standards  III.  to 
VII.  "  may  be  examined  individually  throughout."  The  examina- 
tion is  not  to  be  limited,  as  heretofore,  to  scholars  ' '  whose  names 
have,  at  the  end  of  the  school  year,  been  on  the  registers  for  the  last 
22  weeks  that  the  school  has  been  open,"  but  may  include  any  child 
whose  name  is  on  the  register.  If  proper  care  is  taken,  that  the 
credit  of  the  school  shall  not  be  unduly  affected  by  the  success  or 
failure  of  children  who  have  been  only  recently  admitted,  the  exten- 
sion of  examination  to  the  whole  school  will  be  a  valuable  improve- 
ment ;  for  it  will  take  away  one  of  the  artificial  obstacles  which  have 
hitherto  retarded  the  progress  of  scholars.  Another,  and  perhaps 
a  more  serious  one,  will  be  removed  by  the  new  provision,  that  "  the 
Standards  in  which  scholars  are  presented  for  examination  need  not 
be  the  same  for  each  subject."! 

The  methods  of  examination  in  Class,  and  Specific,  subjects 
remain  unchanged ;  but  it  is  provided,  that  the  children  need  not 
be  examined  "in  the  same  standards  in  Class  subjects  as  in 
Elementary  subjects,  nor  need  they  be  presented  in  the  same 
Standards  in  both  Class  subjects,"  and  that  the  Class  subjects 
"taken  may  be  different  for  different  classes." 

Grants. — The  grants  to  Infant  Schools  remain  practically  as 
before  J — the  only  changes  being  that  if  the  boys  are  taught  drawing 
instead  of  needlework  a  grant  of  the  same  amount  may  be  made  for 
the  former  as  for  the  latter  subject;  that  the  merit  grant  is  now 
denominated  "  a  variable  grant;  "  and  that  the  determination  of  its 
amount  is  reserved  to  the  Department  instead  of  being  left  to  the 
Inspector.  With  regard,  however,  to  schools  for  older  scholars  the 
system  is  very  considerably  changed.  The  "  fixed  grant,"  the 
"  merit  grant,"  and  the  "percentage  grant"  on  elementary  subjects 
disappear,  and  are  replaced  by  "  a  principal  grant"  of  12s.  6d.  or 
14s.,  and  "  a  grant  for  discipline  and  organization  "  of  Is.  or  Is.  Qd. 
The  lower  of  the  two  amounts  is  in  each  case  to  be  a  "  fixed  grant," 
to  be  reduced  only  in  case  any  of  the  general  conditions  of  annual 
grants  are  not  fulfilled.  The  determination  whether  the  lower  or 
the  higher  grant  is  to  be  given  is  reserved  to  the  Department  after 
consideration  of  the  Inspector's  report  and  recommendation — subject, 

*  Recommendation  87. 

t  Recommendations  78  and  113. 

£  Recommendation  169. 


ISO  STATE    EDUCATION. 

however,  to  the  condition  that  the  higher  principal  grant  will  not  be 
given  "  unless  the  Inspector  reports  that  the  scholars  throughout 
the  school  are  satisfactorily  taught  Recitation."  The  "  needlework 
grant,"  the  "  singing  grant,"  the  "  class  grants,"  and  the  "  specific 
subjects  grant,"  are  practically  unaltered — except  that  the  determi- 
nation whether  the  higher  or  lower  class  grant  shall  be  given  is 
reserved  to  the  Department,  and  that  specific  subjects  grants  are  not 
to  be  made  to  "  any  school  in  wilich,  at  the  last  preceding  inspection, 
the  managers  did  not  obtain  a  Principal  Grant  of  14s."  As  the 
latter  is,  among  other  things,  conditional  upon  Recitation  being 
satisfactorily  taught,  it  follows  that  the  specific  subjects  grant  can 
be  obtained  only  by  schools  in  which  Recitation  is  taken.  This 
result,  if  intended,  appears  to  attach  a  somewhat  exaggerated  im- 
portance to  the  learning  of  a  number  of  lines  of  poetry.  The 
"  grant  for  cookery  "  remains  as  before,  except  that  in  future  the 
school  of  cookery  which  certifies  the  teacher  must  be  one  "  recognized 
by  the  Department,"  the  lessons  must  be  of  not  less  than  1J  hours' 
duration,  not  more  than  8  hours  in  any  one  week  may  be  devoted  to 
this  subject,  and  demonstration-lessons  may  not  be  given  while  the 
pupils  are  engaged  in  practice-lessons.  For  the  new  subject  of 
" laundry-work"  a  grant  of  2s.  is  made  on  account  of  any  girl 
presented  in  Standards  IV.  to  VII.  "  who  has  attended  not  less  than 
20  hours  during  the  school  year  at  a  laundry  class  of  not  more  than 
14  scholars." 

The  special  grants  for  evening  schools,  pupil-teachers,  assistant- 
teachers,  and  small  schools  respectively,  will  be  referred  to  later  in 
the  paragraphs  dealing  more  particularly  with  those  subjects. 

Staff. — The  requirements  under  this  head  are  somewhat  increased.* 
The  head  teacher  may  still  be  reckoned  as  sufficient  for  an  average 
attendance  of  60  scholars,  but  a  certificated  assistant-teacher  is  to 
count  for  only  70  if  trained,  or  60  if  untrained  instead  of  80  as 
heretofore,  an  assistant  for  50  instead  of  60,  and  an  "  additional 
female  teacher"  or  a  pupil-teacher  for  30  instead  of  40 — a  "can- 
didate "  011  probation  continuing  as  before  to  count  for  20.  In  the 
case  of  Infant  classes,  also,  the  requirements  are  slightly  raised — an 
adult  teacher  being  required  if  the  class  exceeds  30  (instead  of  40) 
and  a  certificated  teacher  being  demanded  when  the  attendance  reaches 
50  (instead  of  60).  In  case,  however,  of  a  casual  vacancy  for  any 
but  the  principal  teacher  occurring  during  the  school  year,  tem- 
porary monitors  may,  for  the  remainder  of  that  year,  be  employed 
instead — one  being  accepted  as  sufficient  for  30,  and  two  for  60, 
scholars.  "  Lay  persons  alone  are  recognised  as  teachers  in  a  day 
school."  For  small  schools,  to  which  on  that  account  additional 
grants  are  to  be  made,  a  somewhat  stronger  proportionate  staff  than 
that  above  mentioned  will  be  required. 

Pupil  Teachers. — The  general  regulations  with  regard  to  these 
young  teachers  remain  much  as  before,  but  additional  precautions 
are  taken  to  secure  greater  care  in  their  selection  and  training. 

*  Recommendation  22. 


H3ITY 
NEW    CODE    FOR    1890. 

Before  they  are  apprenticed  they  must  not  only  as  heretofore  pass 
an  entrance  examination  and  produce  certificates  of  good  character 
and  good  health,  but  "  must"  also  "be  presented  to  the  Inspector  for 
approval."     It  is  further  provided  that  the  managers  must  "  see 
that  the  pupil-teacher  is  properly  instructed  during  the  engagement," 
and  that  if  "  this  duty  is  neglected"  the  Department  "may  decline 
to  recognise  any  pupil-teachers  as  members  of  the  staff  of  a  school 
under  the  same  managers."     The  managers  are  further  required  to 
report  annually  on  the  manner  in  which  the  head  teachers  have  per- 
formed their  duties  to  the  pupil-teachers.     The  right  of  superin- 
tending   pupil-teachers    may  be   withdrawn  from   any   certificated 
teacher  whom  the  Department  may  consider  to  have  neglected  his 
duty  in  this  respect.     It  is  no  longer  required  that  the  instruction 
received  by  a  pupil- teacher  shall  be  "  out  of  school  hours," — a  change 
which  will  facilitate  the  grouping  of  pupil-teachers  for  central  class 
instruction,  by  permitting  such  instruction  to  be  given,  on  other  days 
than  Saturday,  in  the  day-time,  and  not  as  at  present,  exclusively  in 
the  evening.     The  annual  examinations  are  to  be  continued,  and 
two  consecutive  failures  to  pass  either  of  the  required  examinations, 
unless  from  illness  or  other  sufficient  cause,  is  to  entail  the  conse- 
quence that   the    "pupil-teacher  will  no  longer  be  recognised    by 
the  Department ; "  but  before  the  managers  are  informed  that  the 
pupil-teacher  has  failed  in  either  of  the  first  three  years'  examina- 
tions "  the  papers  will  be  further  revised  in  the  Department."     For 
the  present  fourth  year's  examination  that  for  Queen's  Scholarships 
is  substituted ;  which  may  be  taken  either  during  the  fourth  year 
of  apprenticeship  or,  in  the  cases  where  the  apprenticeship  termi- 
nates on  the  31st  December  or  the  30th   June,  or  at   airy   time 
between  those  dates,  on  the  first  occasion  "  following  the  conclusion" 
of  the  engagement.     If  the  latter  date  is  chosen  it  will  be  "  the  duty 
of  the   managers"    to   see   that  the   pupil-teachers  "are  properly 
instructed  up  to  the  date  of  examination,"  and  the  pupil- teachers 
will  continue  to  be  recognised  as  such  by  the  Department  until  the 
result  of  the  examination  is  known.     The  withdrawal,  as  contem- 
plated by  the  draft  Code  of  last  year,  of  the  grants  hitherto  made 
towards  the  cost  of  training  pupil-teachers  has  been  reconsidered, 
and  instead,  the  apportionment  of  the  grant  has  been  revised.     In 
place  of  a  uniform  payment  of  £3  and  aS2  respectively  for  a  pupil- 
teacher  who  passes  the  annual  examination  well  or  fairly,  no  matter 
at  the  end  of  what  year,  there  is  in  future  to  be  a  scale  of  payments 
increasing  with  the  progress  of  the  apprenticeship.     £2  is  to  be 
paid  for  each   first  or  second,  and  £3  for  each  third  year  pupil- 
teacher  who  passes  well,  d£l  and  £2  respectively  being  paid  for  the 
corresponding  pupil-teachers  who  pass  fairly — while  £5  (or  £4)  is 
to  be  paid  for  each  fourth  year  pupil-teacher  who  secures  a  place  in 
the  First  (or  Second)  Class  at  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examination. 
For  the  future  pupil-teachers  will  not,  after  the  completion  of 
their  apprenticeship,  be  recognised  as  assistant  teachers,  unless  they 
pass  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examination ;  with  regard,  however, 
to  the  present  ex-pupil-teachers,  it  is  not  stated  whether  their  con- 
tinued recognition  will  be  in  any  way  similarly  affected.     Recogni- 


152  STATE    EDUCATION. 

tion  as  "provisionally  certificated  teachers"  is  for  the  future  to  be 
restricted  to  "pupil-teachers  who  have  obtained  a  place  in  the  first 
class  in  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examination." 

Assistant  Teachers. — These  are,  as  at  present  to  consist  of 
"  persons  who  have  passed  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examination," 
of  "graduates  of  any  University  in  the  United  Kingdom,"  and  of 
"  women  over  eighteen  years  of  age  who  have  passed  University  and 
other  examinations  recognised  by  the  Department  " — to  the  list  of 
which  examinations  several  important  additions  are  made,  including 
the  Durham  University's  second  year  examination  in  Arts,  the 
Victoria  University's  Preliminary  Examination  and  the  College  of 
Preceptors'  Examination  for  the  teacher's  diploma.  It  should  be 
observed  that  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examination  is  not  limited 
to  pupil-teachers,  but  is  open  to  any  person  who  will  be  over  eighteen 
years  of  age  on  the  following  1st  of  January ;  and  that  candidates 
who  are  not  successful  the  first  time  are  allowed  one  further  oppor- 
tunity of  passing  this  examination.  To  encourage  managers  to* 
provide  facilities  for  their  assistant  teachers  to  qualify  themselves 
for  certificates,  a  grant  of  <£15,  or  £10,  is  made  to  them  for  each  of 
such  teachers  who,  after  serving  for  three  years  in  that  capacity,  and 
receiving  during  that  time  special  instruction  under  arrangements 
approved  by  the  Department,  obtains  a  place  in  the  first,  or  second, 
division  on  second  year's  papers  at  the  certificate  examination. 

Certificated  Teachers. — The  whole  complicated  system  of  Firstr 
Second,  and  Third  Class  certificates  which  has  hitherto  prevailed  is 
summarily  abolished,  and  for  the  future  there  will  be  "only  one 
class  of  certificate; "  but  only  those  teachers  who  pass  in  the  first 
or  second  division  on  second  year's  papers  will  be  permitted  to  have 
the  charge  of  pupil-teachers.  Acting  teachers  will  be  required,  like 
students  in  training  colleges,  to  pass  on  first  year's  papers  as  well  as  on 
second  year's — with  an  interval  of  at  least  one  year  between  the  two  ex- 
aminations. They  must  also  obtain  from  the  Inspector  a  favourable 
report  on  their  teaching  power  before  each  examination.  These 
examinations  are  to  be  held  as  at  present  at  the  existing  training 
colleges  each  December ;  provision  is,  however,  made  for  similar 
examinations  being  held  not  only  as  now  at  other  places,  but  also 
at  other  times.  This  latter  provision  has  probably  in  view  the 
possible  needs  of  the  Day  Training  Colleges  now  contemplated — to 
which  reference  is  made  later.  Certificated  teachers  who  are  not 
entitled  to  have  the  charge  of  pupil-teachers  may  be  re-examined  at 
intervals  of  not  less  than  two  years,  with  a  view  to  qualifying 
themselves  for  that  duty.  The  right,  however,  of  superintending 
pupil-teachers  may  be  withdrawn  if  the  Department  consider  that  the 
teacher  has  neglected  his  duty  to  the  pupil-teachers  under  his  charge. 

Admission  to  a  training  college  as  a  Queen's  Scholar  is  to  be 
limited,  as  at  present,  to  those  who  obtain  places  in  the  first  or 
second  class  in  the  Queen's  Scholarship  Examinations,  and  to 
"  acting  teachers "  who  have  past  the  First  Year's  Certificate 
Examination.  The  general  arrangements  with  regard  to  (residential) 
training  colleges  remain  practically  unaltered,  except  that  the 
approval  of  the  Department  is  needed  to  the  "  curriculum  and 


NEW    CODE    FOR    1890.  153 

general  arrangements  "  as  well  as  to  "  the  premises,  management 
and  staff,"  and  that  a  third  year  of  training  ma}r,  "with  the  consent 
of  the  Department,"  be  allowed  to  any  particular  student,  but, 
apparently,  without  any  corresponding  increase  of  grant. 

Parchment  certificates  will,  as  at  present,  be  issued  after  the 
usual  period  of  probation  ;  and  it  is  now  provided  that  "  service  "  in 
a  training  college  will  be  recognised  for  this  purpose.  But  entries 
upon  teachers'  parchment  certificates  will  for  the  future  be  entirely 
discontinued. 

Day  Training  Colleges. — A  new  departure  in  the  matter  of  the 
training  of  teachers  is  contemplated  by  the  establishment  of  non- 
residential  Training  Colleges  *  and  the  admission  of  non-resident 
students  into  ordinary  Training  Colleges.!  The  change  is  to  be 
introduced  experimentally  and  on  a  limited  scale  t — not  more  than 
200  day  students  being  recognised  at  one  and  the  same  time  as 
Queen's  Scholars ;  and  it  is  required  that  a  Day  Training  College 
shall  "be  attached  to  some  University  or  College  of  University 
rank."  §  Bursaries  of  £25  will  be  allowed  to  each  male,  and  of 
£20  to  each  female  non-resident  student  towards  the  cost  of  their 
maintenance,  and  a  grant  of  £10  a  year  made  to  the  Training 
College  for  their  instruction  and  professional  preparation. 

Evening  Schools. — The  arrangements  as  to  grants  to  Evening 
Schools  remain  unchanged  in  their  general  features.  A  "fixed 
grant  "  of  4s.  will  still  be  made  on  the  average  attendance  of  a  school 
which  has  been  open  45,  and  of  6s.  on  that  of  one  open  61  or  more 
times;  and  a  grant  of  2s.  will  be  made  for  each  "pass"  in  any 
elementary  or  special  (i.e.  Class  or  Specific)  subject,  provided  that 
the  scholar  examined  has  attended  the  school  for  eight  weeks  and 
has  made  at  least  24  attendances.  Several  important  changes, 
however,  are  made  in  the  detailed  arrangements — which,  it  may  be 
hoped,  will  remove  some  of  the  evils  which  have  of  late  years  tended 
to  discourage  evening  schools.  Pupils  who  have  passed  the  Fifth 
Standard  in  a  Public  Elementary  School  (day  or  evening)  need  no 
longer  be  examined  in  elementary  subjects, ||  but  may  be  presented 
in  not  "less  than  two  or  more  than  four  of  the  special  subjects." 
As  in  the  day  schools  "  the  Standards  in  which  scholars  are 
presented  need  not  be  the  same  for  all  subjects,"  but  pupils  wha 
have  not  passed  the  Fifth  Standard  must  be  presented  in  some 
standard  in  each  of  the  three  elementary  subjects.  "  Cookery " 
is  recognised  as  a  "special  subject"  for  girls  "presented  in 
Standard  IV.  or  any  higher  Standard  "  provided  that,  in  addition 
to  the  24  attendances  required  to  qualify  for  any  examination  grant, 
the  girls  have  attended  the  cookery  class  for  20  hours,  and  have 
spent  10  hours  in  cooking  with  their  own  hands. 

Small  Schools. — In  addition  to  the  special  grant  of  £10  or  £15 
made  under  the  provisions  of  Section  19  of  the  Elementary  Educa- 

*  Recommendation  40. 

f  Recommendation  41. 

£  Recommendations  40.  42,  and  45  (4). 

§  Recommendation  42. 

II  Recommendation  142. 


154  STATE    EDUCATION. 

tion  Act  of  1876  to  schools  in  districts  with  a  population  of  less 
than  300  or  200  respectively,  a  further  special  grant  of  £W  may  be 
made  to  an}T  school,  situated  in  a  district  in  which  the  population 
is  less  than  500,  or  where  the  population  within  two  miles  of  the 
school  does  not  exceed  that  number,  provided  that  "there  is  no 
other  public  "  elementary  school  recognised  by  the  Department  as 
available  for  that  district  or  that  population."  This  additional 
grant,  however,  is  not  to  be  made  unless  the  fees  charged  in  the 
school  "  are  suitable  to  the  population,"  and  the  staff  more  ample 
than  the  minimum  ordinarily  required  for  an  attendance  of  the  like 
amount.*  For  the  latter  purpose  the  principal  teacher  is  to  be 
reckoned  as  sufficient  for  only  40  instead  of  60  scholars,  an  assistant 
teacher  for  30  instead  of  50,  a  pupil-teacher  for  20  instead  of  30,  and 
a  candidate  for  10  instead  of  20. 


Among  the  Recommendations  of  the  Royal  Commission  to  which 
apparently  effect  might  have  but  has  not  been  given  in  the  Code 
may  be  enumerated,  Recommendation  173  for  grants  in  aid  of  the 
Salaries  of  organizing  Masters  and  of  itinerant  teachers ;  Recom- 
mendation 152  for  liberal  grants  to  be  made,  as  in  Scotland,  for 
advanced  instruction  to  scholars  who  have  passed  the  highest 
standard ;  Recommendation  32  for  extra  grants  to  be  made  to 
managers  who  extend  to  their  pupil-teachers  the  advantages  of 
central  class  instruction.  Recommendation  79  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  School  libraries ;  and  Recommendation  110  for  the 
introduction  of  a  system  of  physical  instruction. 

Recommendation  140. 


PART    XII. 

EDITORIAL   SUMMARY   AND   CONCLUSION. 

THE  preceding  essays  have  been  written,  not  to  prove  the  value 
of  education,  for  that  is  a  truism,  which  not  even  the  most  reactionary 
member  of  any  civilised  community  would  in  our  day  venture  to  deiry ; 
but  rather  to  show  how  indispensable  it  is  to  progress,  and  what  an 
advantage  is  enjoyed  by  those  nations  amongst  whom  it  is  the  most 
carefully  fostered. 

It  has  been  shown  that  in  India  educational  institutions,  although 
they  have  been  established  by  foreign  rulers  and  even  in  an  alien 
tongue,  are  bringing  into  closer  union  and  imparting  a  new  national 
life  to  vast  populations  of  varying  creeds  and  races ;  that  the  same 
potent  influences  are  breaking  down  the  superstitions  and  prejudices 
of  centuries  ;  and  are  elevating  not  only  the  men  of  those  lands,  but 
also  the  women,  who  almost  from  time  immemorial  have  been 
regarded  as  mere  creatures  of  convenience,  and  amongst  some 
oriental  races  are  even  now  believed  to  be  without  a  soul. 
And  when,  in  the  last  connexion,  we  read  the  account  of  what 
education  has  done  for  the  fair  sex  in  Western  lands,  a  narrative 
here  recorded  by  one  of  themselves  possessing  wide  experience  and 
holding  a  high  position  in  the  literary  and  journalistic  world,  we 
find  that  although  there  may  be  some  walks  of  life  for  which  her 
physical  frame  and  her  place  in  Nature  have  unfitted  her,  yet  in  other 
vocations  which  were  hitherto  regarded  as  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
Man,  his  helpmate  Woman  is  displaying  remarkable  intelligence  and 
activity  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  her  general  usefulness 
in  the  domestic  circle.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  renais- 
sance of  Woman  will  further  the  spread  of  refinement  and  civilisa- 
tion ;  and  it  is  not  hoping  too  much,  that  it  may  initiate  a  new  era 
of  chivalry  shorn  of  its  ancient  coarseness,  and  of  its  more  than 
doubtful  morality. 

Turning  to  the  distinctive  features  in  the  educational  systems  of 
various  countries  and  the  effect  they  have  produced  or  are  producing 
on  the  national  life  and  character,  we  find  that  in  many  States  both 
of  the  Old  and  New  World  universally  gratuitous  and  compulsory 
instruction  has  been  long  in  operation,  and  that  in  those  countries 
the  lower  classes  have  attained  a  higher  standard  of  knowledge  than 
where  such  a  system  is  absent  or  but  recently  introduced.  Other 
conditions  being  equal,  the  effect  of  gratuitous  primary  education  is 
undoubtedly  to  diminish  pauperism  and  mendicancy  and  to  add  to 
the  national  prosperity.  At  first  sight  it  may  appear  strange  that 


156  STATE    EDUCATION. 

the  system  should  not  have  been  established  in  this  country,  but 
anyone  who  has  studied  the  influence  of  our  insular  position  in  this 
and  other  matters  will  easily  understand  the  cause.  It  is  all  of  a 
piece  with  our  backwardness  in  adopting  easier  and  more  scientific 
methods  of  calculating  weights  and  values,  and  whilst  the  old- 
fashioned  "  weights  and  measures  "  are  driven  into  the  brains  ot 
the  rising  generation,  hardly  any  trouble  is  taken  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  the  more  rational  systems  of  other  countries.  A 
glance  at  the  latest  education  Code  shows  that  only  in  the  sixth 
standard  the  word  "  decimal  "  makes  its  appearance,  and  then  care 
is  taken  to  notify  that  "  questions  involving  recurring  decimals  will 
not  be  put  to  girls." 

The  objection  to  gratuitous  education  has  not  arisen  so  much 
from  religious  prejudice  or  bigotry  (for  it  is  found  to  exist  in 
countries  where  superstition  and  intolerance  run  high,)  as  from  a 
desire  not  to  interfere  with  existing  methods  and  to  respect  "  vested 
interests."  A  remarkable  illustration  of  this  tendency  in  our  people 
and  one  that  is  quite  germane  to  the  question  at  issue  is  the  training 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  country.  It  is  now  pretty  generally, 
but  by  no  means  universally  known  that  the  old  system  of  "  dacty- 
lology "  or  finger-speaking  by  which  the  deaf  were  formerly  taught 
to  communicate  with  the  world,  is  rapidly  giving  place  to  the  new 
or  "  Oral  "  method,  which  enables  persons  so  afflicted  to  speak,  and 
to  follow  the  motions  of  the  lips  in  conversation,  with  more  or  less 
facility.  But  we  are  so  far  behind  other  countries  in  this  reform 
that  even  intelligent  writers  in  our  journals  regard  the  oral  method 
as  one  that  is  just  discovered,  and  a  leader-writer  in  one  of  our 
principal  daily  papers  stated  recently  that  it  had  made  rapid  progress 
since  its  introduction  into  England  "  about  eight  years  ago."  The 
fact  is  that  the  oral  system,  which  has  been  largely  employed  in 
Holland  and  elsewhere  for  half- a- century,  was  introduced  into  this 
country  quite  thirty  years  since  in  private  families,  and  an  able 
teacher  of  the  new  system  was  engaged  by  our  Government  and  sent 
to  fill  the  post  of  Superintendent  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  institutions 
of  New  Zealand  about  fifteen  years  ago.  But  a  comparison  of  the 
systems  existing  all  over  the  world  shows  that  in  England  alone  the 
old  barbarous  method  (for  barbarous  it  is,  inasmuch  as  it  keeps  the 
deaf  who  are  able  to  articulate  dumb  all  their  lives)  is  still  largely 
in  vogue,  and  is  by  many  well-meaning  persons  warmly  defended ; 
whilst  in  some  places  a  truly  English  compromise,  known  as  the 
"  combined  system  "  is  employed.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  old  mode 
of  instruction  has  been  retained  because  the  supply  of  efficient 
teachers  of  the  oral  method  is  restricted ;  because  the  teachers  of 
the  finger-system  have  found  it  easier  to  convince  Committees  of 
Management  that  the  new  system  is  imperfect  than  to  master  it 
themselves ;  and  where  the  Committees  have  known  better  they 
have  hesitated  to  dismiss  the  teachers  and  engage  others  more 
competent ;  and  finally  because  many  of  the  clergy  who  take  an 
active  part  in  the  religious  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  besides 
having  a  dread  and  an  abhorrence  of  anything  emanating  from  the 
Continent,  find  it  more  convenient  to  impart  such  instruction 


EDITORIAL    SUMMARY   AND    CONCLUSION.     157 

indirectly  through  an  interpreter  than  to  qualify  themselves  for 
direct  communication  with  the  children.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  interest  which  is  being  awakened  in  this  phase  of  the  Education 
question  will  lead  to  a  more  rational  treatment  of  what  are  known 
as  deaf-mutes,  and  we  have  dwelt  upon  it  here  because  it  explains 
much  that  is  backward  and  imperfect  in  other  branches  of  Education. 
We  have  seen,  for  example,  that  whilst  in  nearly  every  other  countiy 
training  schools  for  teachers  have  been  founded  and  are  managed  by 
the  State,  and  the  attendance  at  them  is  gratuitous,  here  they  are 
denominational  only,  however  liberally  they  may  be  aided  by  the 
State  ;  and  that  the  scarcity  of  trained  instructors  perpetuates  a 
system  of  "  pupil-teachers  "  which  is  admittedly  a  makeshift.  That 
the  Government  is  beginning  to  awaken  to  its  responsibility  in  this 
respect  is  witnessed  by  the  extension  of  training  facilities  afforded 
by  the  New  Code.  The  zeal  which  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  thrown  into  this  movement  is  seen  in  the  "  Teacher's  In- 
stitutes "  which  have  been  described  by  our  esteemed  writer  on 
American  Education,  and  we  can  testify  from  personal  observation 
to  the  great  benefits  which  they  are  conferring  upon  the  educational 
world  of  the  West.  Those  conferences  have  been  in  existence  there 
for  many  years,  and  no  time  should  be  lost  in  establishing  similar 
institutions  in  Great  Britain.  We  are  surprised  that  the  Scotch 
have  not  long  since  taken  the  initiative. 

The  defects  of  the  system  of  "  payment  on  results  "  have  also  been 
recognised  and  in  part  remedied  by  the  New  Code,  and  whilst  it  is 
certainly  undesirable  that  the  State  should  relax  its  vigilance,  and 
that  inefficient  teaching  should  be  permitted,  there  is  still  a  "retail" 
look  about  the  whole  method  of  remunerating  teachers,  which  is 
unworthy  of  a  great  people.  What  will  after-generations  say  when 
they  take  up  the  perfected  Code,  and  read  that  whilst  a  teacher 
receives  a  fixed  grant  of  12s.  Qd.  each,  for  his  older  pupils,  he  is 
entitled  to  the  munificent  sum  of  Is.  Qd.  extra,  if  their  memory  has 
been  trained,  or  it  may  be  tortured,  until  they  are  capable  of  reciting 
150  lines  of  Milton  or  Shakespeare  ! 

To  return  to  "free  schools,"  however:  If  there  be  one  principle 
upon  which  all  thoughtful  persons  seem  to  be  agreed  it  is  that  ele- 
mentary education  which  is  compulsory,  should  also  be  gratuitous, 
and  it  is  no  longer  a  question  whether,  but  when  and  by  whom 
it  shall  be  granted.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  with  the  means 
in  hand  the  present  Government  has  not  conferred  that  boon  upon 
the  people.  Sectarianism,  as  usual,  stops  the  way,  and,  for  the 
moment,  the  clergy  having  taken  fright,  have  influenced  the  Govern- 
ment to  inaction.  But  this  cannot  be  of  long  duration  ;  the  Liberal 
party  is  pledged  to  free  education,  and  if  the  Prime  Minister  was 
correctly  reported,  he  told  his  followers  at  a  secret  conclave  that  his 
party  are  bound  to  deal  with  the  matter ;  for  if  left  untouched  by 
the  present  Government  and  their  opponents  should  obtain  a 
majority,  they  would  deal  with  it  in  such  a  manner  that  the  voluntary 
schools  would  be  swept  away. 

This  was  a  most  unfortunate  mode  of  explaining  the  situation. 
Few,  if  any,  wish  to  sweep  away  denominational  schools,  nor  is  it 


158  STATE    EDUCATION. 

right  that  those  who  have  done  so  much  for  education  in  the  past, 
and  whose  exertions  are  still  active  in  the  cause,  should  have  their 
zeal  damped  or  their  antagonism  aroused  by  drastic  measures.  It 
is  estimated  that  during  the  last  20  years  seven  and  a  half  millions 
have  been  expended  by  denominationalism  in  providing  school  ac- 
commodation for  children,  and  this  alone  entitles  them  to  respect 
and  consideration.  The  real  question  at  issue  is  whether  the  State 
shall  exercise  extended  control  in  granting  extended  aid,  and  those 
who  are  best  acquainted  with  the  views  of  Parliament  have  expressed 
the  opinion  that  if  a  measure  of  moderate  popular  local  control 
(and  the  present  Government  would  make  it  as  moderate  as  possible) 
were  proposed  in  Parliament  it  would  meet  with  the  acquiescence  of 
the  whole  of  the  Liberal  party  and  of  half  the  Conservatives.  The 
votes  of  the  "  dissentient  Liberals"  would  therefore  count  for  little, 
on  whichever  side  they  might  be  recorded. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  most  advanced  of  the  United  States  of 
America  not  only  is  education  gratuitous,  but  its  importance  to  the 
people  is  so  far  recognised  as  to  lead  the  State  authorities  to  provide 
books  and  apparatus  for  the  scholars,  and  free  education  for  all 
classes  of  citizens.  And  why  should  free  education  in  England  be 
granted  to  one  class  only  ?  Is  it  fair  to  the  middle  classes,  especially 
the  lower  middle  class,  that  they  should  not  only  have  to  educate 
their  own  children,  but  should  be  compelled  to  contribute  to  the 
school-rates  for  the  benefit  of  those  of  the  labouring  classes  ?  Is  it 
not  a  fact  that  in  many  instances  the  artisan  is  better  able  to  pay 
for  the  education  of  his  children  than  is  the  clerk  or  tradesman  of 
limited  means  ?  And  is  not  the  training  of  the  mind  a  more  vital 
necessity  to  those  who  have  to  earn  their  livelihood  with  the  pen 
than  to  the  artisan  working  with  his  hands  ?  It  will  not  be  long- 
before  these  questions  will  be  considered  and  answered  by  the  middle 
classes,  and  "  free  education "  in  the  broadest  sense  will  be  the 
necessary  consequence. 

As  to  the  greater  advantages  of  Board  or  Secular  Schools  as 
compared  with  denominational  schools,  and  the  consequent  dis- 
appearance of  the  latter,  that  is  a  problem  which  time  alone  can 
solve.  No  one,  unless  it  be  the  secularists,  would  desire  to  see  a 
"  Godless  "  system  of  education,  but  that  is  very  different  from  the 
association  of  creeds  with  secular  instruction.  Creeds  and  catechisms 
may  be  essential  to  salvation,  but  the  comparison  drawn  in  our  first 
article,  between  the  Mohammedan  and  the  Hindoo  system  in  the 
East,  and  the  general  results  so  far  in  the  West,  show  that  where 
the  mind  of  the  young  is  relieved  from  the  strain  of  committing 
creeds  and  religious  formularies  to  memory,  the  secular  training  is 
more  efficient,  and  such  schools  prosper  where  the  denominational 
institutions  languish. 

But  important  as  the  much  debated  questions  of  "free"  and  of 
"  denominational"  schools  may  be,  there  are  others  which  appear  to 
us  of  far  greater  moment.  The  first  of  those  is  the  problem  which 
perplexes  the  local  authorities,  especially  in  our  large  towns,  as  to  how 
they  shall  deal  with  "  waifs  and  strays."  This  was  the  primary 
object  for  which  School  Boards  were  established,  for  the  first  duty 


EDITORIAL    SUMMARY   AND    CONCLUSION.     159 

of  the  State  is  to  diminish  crime,  pauperism,  and  mendicancy,  by 
preparing  the  children  of  the  poor  to  earn  an  honest  livelihood. 
But  the  end  proposed  has  so  far  been  very  partially  accomplished. 
The  greatest  enemies  of  universal  education  are  the  vicious  and 
criminal  classes  who  will  neither  work  themselves  nor  give  their  off- 
spring the  chance  of  gaining  their  bread  by  honest  industry,  for  as  it 
has  been  stated  in  one  of  the  preceding  articles,  they  train  them  to 
beg  or  steal,  or  at  best  allow  them  to  earn  a  precarious  living  on  the 
street,  instead  of  labouring  for  them  in  their  infancy  and  giving  them 
the  best  preparation  they  can  afford  for  their  duties  in  after-life. 
Here,  too,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  shortcomings  of  the 
State  have  been  atoned  for  by  the  efforts  of  individuals,  and  that  in 
the  large  towns  at  least,  the  work  of  rescue  has  been  mainly  under- 
taken by  philanthropic  clergymen  and  laymen,  who  have  not  waited 
for  the  children  to  be  "committed"  before  opening  the  door  of 
reform,  but  have  snatched  them  from  the  streets  and  brought  them 
under  civilising  influences.  In  this  respect  the  State  has  acted  to  a 
great  extent  as  in  the  case  of  normal  schools,  giving  support  to 
existing  institutions,  but  (excepting  in  connection  with  workhouses) 
taking  no  initiative.  Undoubtedly  in  any  future  action  the  disin- 
terested benefactors  of  society  should  be  considered  and  encouraged, 
but  if  this  country  wishes  to  hold  its  place  amongst  the  nations, 
prompt  measures  will  have  to  be  taken  to  rescue  the  crowd  of  poor 
neglected  children  who,  from  no  fault  of  their  own,  swarm  in  the 
streets  of  our  large  cities.  But  here  again  comes  in  the  convenient 
cry  of  "interference  with  the  liberty  of  the  subject,"  a  cry  that  is 
too  frequently  raised  in  order  to  block  the  path  of  reform.  "  What 
is  to  be  done  with  them  ?  "  we  are  asked.  "  If  you  take  them  awav 
from  their  parents  and  put  them  into  industrial  institutions,  you  are 
interfering  with  paternal  rights,  diminishing  the  responsibility  of 
parents,  and  depriving  the  children  of  their  natural  guardians." 
Natural  guardians,  forsooth  !  And  do  you  give  the  children  a  better 
chance  in  life,  by  putting  their  parents  in  gaol,  and  leaving  them  to 
shift  for  themselves  ?  Both  humanity  and  expediency  suggest  that 
the  industrial  school  system  must  be  greatly  extended,  the  streets 
must  be  watched  more  closely,  and  the  work  of  rescue  and  punish- 
ment undertaken,  not  by  private  societies,  but  by  the  State  and  local 
authorities ;  the  great  staring  blot  upon  our  national  character  which 
is  pointed  at  with  scorn  by  the  visitors  to  our  shores,  must  be  wiped 
out ;  and  coute  que  coute  the  waifs  and  strays  of  the  rising  generation 
must  be  rescued  from  vice  and  crime,  and  trained  to  useful  employ- 
ment, not  only  for  their  own  advantage,  but  in  the  interests  of  the 
whole  community. 

A  more  delicate  matter,  one  which  it  is  necessary  to  treat  without 
reserve,  but  which  is  not  always  so  handled,  is  the  subject  of  "tech- 
nical instruction."  The  Code  just  issued  shows  that  there  is  every 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  State  to  adopt  the  recommendations  of  the 
Royal  Commission  based  largely  on  the  experiences  and  action  of 
other  countries.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  chief  opponent^,,  of 
technical  or  trade  instruction  are  to  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the 
skilled  operatives  themselves.  Those  persons  are  much  more 


160  STATE    EDUCATION. 

anxious  to  confine  trade-instruction  to  the  workshop  and  factory 
than  to  extend  it  even  in  the  schools  which  have  been  founded  for 
their  own  benefit.  Such  men  think  far  less  of  their  children  than 
of  themselves,  and  this  is  how  they  reason:  "We  are  at  present 
brought  into  competition  with  the  sons  and  friends  of  our  employers, 
who  are  sent  into  the  workshop  where  they  get  a  little  manual 
instruction,  and  are  then  placed  in  authority  over  us,  filling  the 
higher  posts  whilst  we  are  kept  in  the  position  of  day-labourers. 
And  not  that  alone,"  they  add,  "  but  the  introduction  of  machinery 
makes  the  career  of  such  intruders  into  our  fields  of  industry  easier, 
for  with  the  aid  of  technical  knowledge  they  can  work  the  machine 
that  is  supplanting  our  hand-labour."  This  last  is  no  imaginary 
argument.  It  was  recently  urged  in  the  public  prints  by  a  com- 
positor in  one  of  our  large  cities,  as  a  reason  for  discountenancing 
technical  instruction,  for,  he  said,  owing  to  the  introduction  of 
machines  into  the  printing-offices  which  work  swifter  than  men, 
"persons  that  have  no  connexion  with  the  trade  would  be  enabled 
to  foist  themselves  upon  the  profession  through  learning  the  principles 
of  the  business  at  a  technical  school." 

In  this  respect  the  operative  reasons  precisely  as  he  does  when 
he  goes  out  on  strike  on  insufficient  grounds  and  gives  up  the  fort 
to  the  enemy  !  It  is  quite  true  that  gentlemen  send  their  sons  into 
workshops  to  go  through  a  course  of  manual  labour,  not  often,  how- 
ever, to  pick  up  a  smattering  of  practical  work,  but  to  fit  themselves 
thoroughly  for  the  control  of  a  manufacturing  concern,  and  of  the 
men  employed  therein  ;  and  at  the  same  time  they  take  care  that 
their  sons  shall  acquire  all  the  theoretical  knowledge  necessary  for 
pursuing  their  avocation.  But  if  the  employer  teaches  his  son  the 
workman's  trade  is  that  any  argument  against  the  workman's 
securing  for  ms  children  the  knowledge  which  maintains  the  employer 
in  his  position  of  superiority  ?  If  the  facts  here  stated  prove  any- 
thing, they  show  that  the  educated  parent  of  the  middle  classes 
teaches  his  son  that  he  must  "  stoop  to  conquer,"  and  that  he  has 
greater  forethought  for  his  welfare  than  he  of  the  artisan  class  has 
for  his  children.  And  again,  if  machinery  is  supplanting  hand- 
labour  owing  to  its  greater  efficiency,  is  that  a  reason  for  keeping 
his  children  ignorant  of  the  nature  and  action  of  such  machinery,  and 
of  the  technical  knowledge  requisite  for  its  proper  construction, 
management,  and  repair  ? 

The  earnestness  with  which  young  men  of  the  middle  classes  are 
directing  their  attention  to  the  study  of  mechanics,  chemistry,  &c., 
arises  mainly  from  the  new  spheres  of  enterprise  opened  up  by  per- 
fected machinery  and  improved  chemical  processes,  and  it  rests  with 
the  skilled  artisans  and  operatives  whether  they  will  leave  the  field 
to  young  men  who  study  in  the  colleges,  or  whether,  by  taking  the 
control  of  their  own  schools  and  fitting  them  with  the  best  appliances 
for  trade-instruction,  they  will  help  their  children  to  rise  above  the 
rank  of  day-labourers.  Neither  co-operation  nor  industrial  partner- 
ship will  avail  them  unless  they  train  their  children's  minds  as  well 
as  their  hands.  It  is  unwise  of  well-intentioned  employers  and 
friends  of  education  to  bandy  words  with,  or  seek  to  coax  the  artisan 


EDITORIAL    SUMMARY   AND    CONCLUSION.    161 

class  into  the  acceptance  of  trade  -instruction  by  calling  it  "  technical 
education  "  which  may  mean  anything  or  nothing.  It  is  not  a  pill 
to  be  gilt,  but  a  reform  in  our  industrial  system  which  should  be 
welcomed  by  all  intelligent  workmen  desirous  of  promoting  the  wel- 
fare of  their  children.  We  want  and  we  shall  have  trade-instruction 
of  two  kinds  ;  one  for  children  in  connexion  with  elementary  educa- 
tion (and  the  New  Code  looks  very  promising  in  that  respect),  and 
the  other  of  a  more  advanced  description,  such  as  we  find  in  the 
programme  of  the  Manchester  Technical  School,  and  in  agricultural, 
weaving,  and  other  trade-schools  for  young  persons  already  estab- 
lished in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Abroad  such  schools  have 
long  existed,  and  although  here  their  extension  may  be  delayed  by 
the  causes  already  assigned  and  by  the  national  tardiness,  it  is 
only  a  question  of  time,  and  we  venture  to  predict  that  not  a  few  of 
those  artisans  who  are  the  earliest  to  appreciate  their  utility,  and  are 
prompt  to  avail  themselves  of  their  advantages,  will  be  reckoned 
amongst  the  wealthiest  and  most  enterprising  capitalists  of  the 
future. 

But  there  are  other  and  even  graver  considerations  connected  with 
the  spread  of  education  than  its  bearing  upon  the  material  condition 
of  the  poorer  classes,  or  upon  Woman,  or  commerce  and  the  national 
industries.  That  education  is  an  important  factor  in  the  political 
life  of  a  nation  goes  without  saying.  In  despotic  Eussia,  which  is 
constantly  on  the  brink  of  a  revolution,  it  is  said  that  not  one  in 
twelve  of  the  populace  can  either  read  or  write,  whilst,  looking  at 
the  other  end  of  the  political  scale,  we  find  free  Massachusetts 
possessing  the  highest  degree  of  education  in  all  classes  of  society  ; 
and  Washington  long  since  declared  that  knowledge  is  in  every 
country  the  surest  basis  of  public  opinion.  In  this  country 
opposition  to  the  extension  of  the  franchise  has  always  been  based 
upon  the  unfitness  of  the  masses  to  exercise  it,  owing  to  their 
defective  education;  whilst  at  this  very  hour  we  are  told  that  India  is 
not  ripe  for  representative  Government  because  the  mass  of  the 
people  are  still  ignorant  and  uneducated.  These  facts  and  argu- 
ments are  all  focussed  in  the  call  of  the  political  reformer  to 
"  Educate,  educate,  educate  !  " 

And  when  we  come  to  reflect  upon  the  relations  between  education 
and  religion,  we  find  that  although  the  circumstances  may  vary,  the 
principles  and  policy  are  identical.  Not  even  the  most  bigoted 
theologians  will  now  affirm  that  it  is  for  the  advantage  of  religion  that 
education  should  be  neglected.  They  may  differ  as  to  its  form,  and 
some  may  wish  to  restrict  the  amount  of  certain  kinds  of  knowledge 
which  should  be  imparted,  lest  it  should  lead  to  inquiry  into  dogmas 
which  they  think  should  be  accepted  on  trust  ;  but  each  religious 
denomination  has  by  this  time  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  if  its 
members  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  what  the  rest  of  the  world  knows, 
it  means  decadence  and  extinction  for  that  denomination  and  —  as  in 
everything  else  —  the  survival  of  the  fittest  ;  so  all  are  eager  to  profit 
by  State  endowments,  although,  as  we  have  seen,  all  are  not  equally 
prepared  to  accept  the  conditions  upon  which  they  are  granted. 
And  finally  education  treated  as  an  abstract  subject,  call  it  what 


OF  THS 

UNIVERSITY 


162  STATE  EDUCATION. 

you  will,  "the  science  of  education,"  or  "  comparative  education," 
presents  itself  as  an  intensely  interesting  and  absorbing  study,  for 
the  elucidation  of  which  the  materials  are  being  actively  collected  and 
collated  by  a  thousand  busy  pens  and  brains.  Nothing  can  be  more 
fascinating  than  to  follow  the  development  of  the  intellect  of  peoples 
of  varying  tastes  and  occupations  ;  here  of  a  nation  enjoying  peculiar 
physical  or  geographical  advantages  ;  there  of  another  surrounded 
by  the  grandest  natural  phenomena ;  or  again  of  an  emigrant  race, 
forced  by  political  or  religious  exigencies  to  quit  the  soil  of  their 
ancestors,  and  carrying  with  them  the  impress  of  their  past  history, 
to  wander  far  away  and  settle  down  in  a  distant  land  and  under  new 
and  untried  conditions.  Here  Art  reigns  supreme  ;  there  Commerce 
rules  ;  and  elsewhere  Agriculture  has  ever  been  the  national  industry. 
How  have  these  nations  trained  their  youth  in  the  past  ?  How  do 
they  propose  to  train  them  in  the  future  to  fit  them  for  the  battle  of 
life  under  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  civilisation  ?  All  nations, 
especially  all  civilised  peoples  of  the  earth,  are  rapidly  merging  into 
one  great  human  family,  not  any  longer  in  the  biological  sense  only, 
but  in  their  intellectual  and  moral  nature  ;  and  this  fusion  will  be 
undoubtedly  accelerated  by  the  extension  of  knowledge,  the  inter- 
change of  national  thought  and  experiences,  and  the  adoption  of 
common  methods  of  educating  the  young. 

How  heartily  should  we  rejoice,  if  in  gathering  together  in  these 
pages  a  few  of  the  materials  for  the  stud}r  of  "  comparative  educa- 
tion "  we  could  feel  that  we  have  given  ever  so  slight  an  impulse  to 
the  expansion  of  that  unlimited  facult}^  in  Man  which,  we  believe, 
exalts  him  high  above  all  known  created  beings. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

THE  following  are  the  titles  of  a  few  Works  and  Eeports  which 
will  be  found  useful  to  the  reader  who  desires  to  make  himself  fully 
acquainted  with  the  branches  of  education  of  which  they  treat. 
Most  of  them  have  been  contributed  by  the  authors  of  the  pre^ 
ceding  articles  :  for  the  French  list  we  are  indebted  to  M.  Buisson, 
Councillor  of  State,  Director  of  Primary  Instruction  in  the  Ministry 
of  Education,  Paris  ;  and  for  the  Keports  on  Swedish,  Norwegian, 
and  Danish  instruction,  to  the  respective  Departments  in  those 
countries.  Without  instituting  any  comparison  between  the  various 
excellent  Reports  on  Continental  education,  we  desire  particularly 
to  draw  attention  to  that  of  Dr.  Laishle}^  of  Wellington,  New 
Zealand,  on  the  educational  systems  of  several  leading  Continental 
States,  which,  we  think,  should  be  reprinted  for  the  benefit  of 
readers  and  students  in  the  Mother  Country.  Most  of  the  titles  of 
Educational  Journals  have  been  extracted  from  the  remarkable  and 
interesting  "  Insertions  Kalender  "  of  Mr.  Rudolf  Mosse  (Berlin: 
London  Agency,  16  &  18,  Victoria  Street)  ;  and  we  have  to  thank 
many  friends  both  at  home  and  abroad  for  the  assistance  they  have 
rendered  to  us  in  the  compilation  of  what  must  necessarily  be  a 
very  incomplete  list  of  recent  Works  and  Reports  on  Education. 


ENGLAND.* 

Eeports  of  the  Education  Department.    1839 — 1889. 

Keport  of  the  Koyal  Commission  on  Education. 

Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Technical  Instruction. 

"  The  Schools  for  the  People."     By  George  C.  T.  Bartley.     Bell  &  Daldy. 

SCOTLAND. 

Reports  of  Scotch  Education  Department.     1872—1889. 
Parochial  Law.     By  Alexander  Dunlop,  Advocate.     1841. 
Compendium  of  the  Laws  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.     1830. 
Reports  of  Commission  of  Inquiry  on  Schools  in  Scotland.     1865 — 66. 
Report  of  Commission  on  Endowed  Schools  and  Hospitals  in  Scotland. 

1873. 

Reports  of  Commission  on  Endowed  Institutions  in  Scotland.     1880 — 81. 
Report  of  Scottish  Educational  Endowment  Commissioners.     1882 — 1889. 
Reports  of  Board  of  Education  in  Scotland.     1873—1878. 
The  State  and  Education.     By  H.  Craik.     (Citizen  Series)  1884. 

*  See  also  "  Technical,"  etc. 
M    2 


1 64  STATE    EDUCATION. 

IRELAND. 

Reports  of  Commissioners  of  National  Education.     1834  to  1888. 
Evidence  taken  by  Committee  of  House  of  Lords  on  Education  in  Ireland. 

1837. 

Evidence  taken  by  Committee  of  House  of  Commons.     1837. 
Evidence  taken  by  Committee  of  House  of  Lords.     1854. 
Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  Science  and  Art.     1866. 
Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  Primary  Education  in  Ireland  (Powis). 

1868-1870. 

Report  of  Select  Committee  on  Education,  Science  and  Art.     1884. 
Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  Industrial  and  Reformatory  Schools.   1884. 
Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  Education.     1887. 
Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  the  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind,     1889. 

FRANCE. 

Michel  Breal. — Quelques    mots    sur    1'instruction    publique    en    France. 

Paris,  Hachette,  in- 12°. 
Felix  Pecaut. — Etudes  au  jour  le  jour  sur  I'e'du cation  nationale.     Paris, 

Hachette,  in- 12°. 

Jules  Simon.— L'Ecole.     Paris,  Hachette,  in-12°. 
0.  Gre'ard. — Education  et  instruction  :  Enseignement  primaire  ;  enseigne- 

ment  secondaire,  enseignement  superieur.    Paris,  Hachette,  4  vols.  in- 12°. 
Anthoine. — A  travers  nos  ecoles.     Paris,  Hachette,  in-12°. 
Leysseune  (P.). — Tableau  general  de  1'enseignement  primaire  public   et 

prive  a  ses  divers  degres.     Paris,  Impr.  Natle.,  1889,  in-8vo. 
Buisson  (F.). — Dictionnaire  de  pedagogic  et  d'instruction  primaire.     lert> 

Partie. — Encyclopedic  theorique  et  historique  de  1'instruction  primaire. 

2e  Partie. — Encyclopedic  pratique  de  1'enseignement  primaire.      Paris, 

Hachette,  4  vol.  in-8vo. 
Marion  (H.). — Mouvement  des  idees  pedagogiques  en  France  depuis  1870. 

Paris,  Impr.  Natle.,  1889,  in-8vo. 

En  general,  consulter  la  Collection  des  Memoires  et  documents  scolaires  publics 
par  le  Musee  Pedagogique.     lere  et  2e  Series. 

Legislation  Scolaire. 

PicJiard. — Nouveau  Code  de  1'instruction  primaire.    Paris,  Hachette,  in-12°. 
Martel   (F.). — Legislation  et   reglementation  de  Fenseignement  primaire. 
(1878  a  1888).     Paris,  Impr.  Natle.,  1889,  in-8vo. 

Education  of  Women. 

Paul  Broca. — Rapport  fait  au  Senat  au  nom  de  la  Commission  charge 
d'examiner  le  projet  de  loi  adopte  par  la  Chambre  des  Deputes  sur 
1'enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes  filles. 

Journal  Officiel,  21  Nov.  1880,  10  Dec.  1880,  et  17  Dec.  1880. 

Comptes  Rendus  des  Seances  du  Congres  Francois  et  International  du  Droit 
des  Femmes.  Dentu,  3  Place  Valois,  Paris. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  165 

FRANCE— continued. 

Aubert,  Inspecteur  primaire  de  Lille  ;   et  P.  Vincent,  Inspecteur  Primal  re 

cle  la  Seine. — Legislation  et  Administration  de  1'enseigneinent  primal  re, 

Code  annote  des  lois  organiques.     Fernand  Nathan,  18  Rue  de  Conde*. 
Enseignement  primaire  public  a  Paris,  1877 — 1888. 
Les   Ecoles  Maternelles  ;  les  Ecoles  elementaires.     Ville  de  Paris,   &  la 

direction  de  1'Enseignement  Primaire. 
Eapport    adresse    au  President    de   la    RSpublique  par  le   Ministre  de 

1'Instruction   Publique  au   sujet  de  la  statistique    de    1'enseignement 

secondaire,  de  1876  a  ]  889. 
See,  Camille. — Proposition  de  loi  sur  1'enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes* 

filles,  presente  a  la  Chambre  des  Deputes. 
Rapport  de  M.    Camille  See,  presente   a  la  Chambre  des   Deputes  sur 

1'instruction  secondaire  des  jeunes  filles. 
Journal  Officiel  du  16  Dec.  1879,  du  20  Janvier,  1880,  et  du  21  Janvier, 

1880. 

GERMANY. 

Monnier,  Frederic. — L'instruction  populaire  en  Allemagne,  en  Suisse,  &c. 
Paris,  1867,  8vo. 

Kehr,  0. — Geschichte  der  Methodik  des  deutschen  Volksschulunterrichtes, 
4  M.  Gotha,  1877—1882,  8vo. 

Kaemmel,  H.  J. — Geschichte  des  deutschen  Schulwesens  in  Uebergange. 
Leipzig,  1882,  8vo. 

Davis,  tr.  B. — Report  on  Schools  in  Germany  and  Switzerland.  Birming- 
ham, 1879,  8vo.  Houghton  &  Hammond. 

Perry,  G.  J. — Reports  on  German  Elementary  Schools  and  Training  Col- 
leges. Rivingtons,  1887. 

BELGIUM. 

Discailles,  E. — Histoire  des  concours  generaux  de  1'enseignement.    3  torn. 

P.  Weissenbach,  Bruxelles,  1882—83,  8vo. 
Monthaye,  P.  A. — Code  de  1'instruction  primaire  de  Belgique.    E.  Gailliard, 

Bruges,  1873,  8vo.     New  edition,  1878. 
Stasse,  Alexis. — Code  administratif  de  1'enseignement  primaire  en  Belgique. 

G.  Thiriat,  Liege,  1881,  12°. 
Barnard. — National  Education,  pt.  ii.,  pp.  369  to  401. 

ITALY. 

Giordano,  M. — Dell'  istruzione  pubblica  in  Italia.     Napoli,  1882,  8vo. 

Boschi,  G. — La  Scuola  elementare.     Napoli,  1882,  8vo. 

Documenti  sull'  istruzione  elementare  nel  Regno  d'ltalia.  3  vols.  Florence, 

1868,  &c. 
Statistica  dell'  istruzione  elementare  pubblica  e  privata  in  Italia.     Roma, 

1881. 
Celesia,   Emanutk.—Stoiia,    della    pedagogia    Italiana.      2   vols.,   Milano, 

1872—4,  8vo. 


1 66  STATE    EDUCATION. 

SWITZERLAND. 

Statistique  sur  1'instruction  publique  en  Siiisse  pour  1'annee  1881,  &c. 
7  torn.  Zurich.  (Tom.  1 — 3,  Statistiques  des  ecoles  primaires.  Tom.  4, 
Ecoles  enfantines,  ecoles  d'adultes,  ecoles  professionnelles.  Tom.  5, 
Ecoles  moyennes  et  ecoles  superieures,  academies,  universite"s.  Tom.  6, 
Tables.  Tom.  7,  Legislation  scolaire.) 

Hunziker,  Dr.  0. — Geschichte  der  Schweizerisclien  Volksschule.  F.  Schult- 
liess,  Zurich,  1880—82,  8vo. 

Kinkelin. — Statistik  des  Unterrichtswesens  in  der  Schweiz  im  Jalire,  1871. 
7  vols.  Basel,  1874,  &c.,  8vo. 


SWEDEN. 

H.  Klinghardt. — Das  hohere  Schtilwesen  Schwedens  und  dessen  Reform  in 

modernem  Sinne.     Leipzig,  1887. 
Dictionnaire  de  Pedagogic  et  d'Instruction,  public  sous  la  direction  de 

F.  Buisson.     Paris,  Libraire  Hachette  et  Comp.  (art.  Suede). 
Encyclopadie  des  gesammten  Erziehungs-  und  Unterrichtswesens,  heraus- 

gegeb.     von  K.  A.  Schmid.     Leipzig,  1887  (art.  Schweden). 
Stadga  angSende  folkundervisningen.     18  Juni,  1842. 
Reglor  for  folkskolelarare  seminarierna  i  riket.     1  December,  1865. 
Stadga  for  rikets  elementarlaroverk.     29  Jan.  1859. 
Akademi  Statuter.     2  April,  1852. 

NORWAY. 

Lov  om  Almueskolevcesenet.     i  Kjobstrederne,  12  Juli,  1848. 
Lov  om  Almueskolevoesenet  paa  Landet.     16  Mai,  1860. 
Lov  om  offentlige  Skoler  for  den  hoiere  Almuedannelse.     17  Juni,  1869. 
Lov  indeholdende  Fnndats  for  det  Kongelige  norske  Fredriks  Universitet 
i  Christiania.    28  Juli,  1827. 

DENMARK. 

Plan  for  Undervisningen  i  Kj0benhavns    Kommunes  oftentlige   Skoler. 

Schultz,  Copenhagen,  1888. 
Beretning  om  det  Kj0benhavnske  Borger-  og  Almueskole^'oesens  Tilstand 

for  Aaret  1888.     Schultz,  Copenhagen,  1889. 

EUROPE  (GENERAL). 

Laishley. — Report  on  State  Education  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Switzer- 
land, &c.,  &c.,  &c.,  and  the  U.S.A. ;  with  a  special  report  upon  Deaf 
Mute  Instruction.*  Wellington,  New  Zealand,  1886. 

Arnold,  Matthew. — Schools  and  Universities  on  the  Continent.  Macmillan, 
London,  1868,  8vo. 

*  For  information  concerning  the  Oral  Instruction  of  the  Deaf,  see  the  various 
works  of  Van  Praagh,  of  Fitzroy  Square  Training  College. 


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EUKOPE  (GENERAL)—  continued. 

Barnard,  Henry. — National  Education  in  Europe.     Case,  Tiffany  &  Co., 

Hartford,  '1854,  8vo. 

Klemm,  L.  R,  Ph.D. — European  Schools,  or  what  I  saw  in  the  Schools 
of  Germany,  France,  Austria  and  Switzerland.     D.  Appleton. 


THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Report  to  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commissioners  (Blue  Book).     Rev.  James 

Fraser,  1867. 

The  Free  School  System  of  the  United  States.     Francis  Adams,  1875. 
Cyclopedia  of  Education.     Kiddle  &  Schem,  New  York,  1883. 
Cyclopaedia  of  Education.     Sonnenschein,  London,  1889. 
Notes  on  American  Schools  and  Training  Colleges  (Blue  Book).     Dr.  J.  G. 

Fitch,  H.M.I.,  1889. 
Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  U.S.A.     Washington,   1886 

—1888. 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commission   on  the   Elementary  Education  Acts. 

Foreign  Returns  (Blue  Book),  1888. 

Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education.     Boston,  1887 — 88. 
Education.      Monthly  Magazine    edited    by  "Wm.   A.   Mowry.      Boston 

1880—1889. 
City  School  Systems  in  the  U.S.     Dr.  John  D.  Philbrick  (Government 

Publication),  1885. 

Rural  Schools  :  Progress  and  Means  of  Improvement  (Government  Publi- 
cation), 1884. 

CANADA. 

Report  to  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commissioners  (Blue  Book).     Rev.  James 

Fraser,  1867. 

Cyclopaedia  of  Education.     Sonnenschein,  London,  1889. 
Educational  System  of  the  Province  of  Ontario  (Government  Publication). 

Toronto,  1886. 

The  Schools  of  Greater  Britain.     John  Russell,  London,  1888. 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the   Elementary  Education  Acts. 

Foreign  Returns  (Blue  Book),  1888. 

AUSTRALIA. 

Report  of  the  State  of  Public  Education  in  Victoria.     Chas.  H.  Pearson, 

Melbourne,  1878. 
Report  of   the   Minister    of    Public    Instruction,   Victoria.      Melbourne, 

1886—87. 
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Adelaide,  1885. 
The  Schools  of  Greater  Britain.     John  Russell,  London,  1888. 


168  STATE    EDUCATION. 

AUSTKALIA— continued. 

Impressions  of  Australia  :   Education.     Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  (Article  in  the 

Contemporary  Review).    London,  Feb.  1889. 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the   Elementary  Education   Acts, 

Foreign  Returns  (Blue  Book),  1888. 

INDIA. 

Report  of  the  Indian  Education  Commission.    Government  Press,  Calcutta, 

1883. 
Collection  of  Despatches  from  the  Home  Government  on  the  subject  of 

Education  in  India,  1854  to  1868.     Being  Volume  LXXVI.  of  Selections 

from  the  Records  of  the  Government  of  India,  Home  Department. 
A  Note  on  the  State  of  Education  in  India  during  1865—66,  by  Mr.  A.  M 

Monteith,  C.S.     Being  Volume  LIV.  of  Selections  from  the  Records  of 

the  Government  of  India,  Home  Department. 
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Howell,  C.S.     Being  Volume  LXVII.  of  Selections  from  the  Records  of 

the  Government  of  India,  Home  Department. 
Review  of  Education  in  India  in  1886,  with  special  references  to  the 

Report  of  the  Education  Commission,  by  Sir  Alfred  Croft,  K.C.I.E., 

M.A.,  Director  of  Public  Instruction,  Bengal,  Calcutta.     Printed  by  the 

Superintendent  of  Government  Printing.     India,  1888. 
Decennial  Statement  of  the  Moral  and  Material  Progress  and  Condition  of 

India,  presented  to  Parliament   (1885)  by  J.  S.  Cotton,  Esq.,  M.A., 

formerly  Fellow  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford  (Blue  Book). 
Statement  exhibiting  the  Moral  and  Material   Progress  and  Condition  of 

India  during  the  years  1887—88.     Twenty-fourth  Number  (Blue  Book). 

TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL. 

Report  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  on  Technical  Instruction,  1884. 
Report  of  the  Special  Committee  on  the  Subjects  and  Modes  of  Instruction 

in  the  Board  Schools  (School  Board  for  London),  1888. 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  wording  of  the  Education  Acts, 

1888. 
Special  Report  of  Mr.  Arnold  on  certain  points  connected  with  Elementary 

Education  in  Germany,  France  and  Switzerland,  1886. 
Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  year  1887-88.   Washington, 

1889. 
Technical  Education  in  Europe.     First   Part.      Industrial  Education   in 

France.     By  J.  Schoenhof.     Washington,  1888. 
Galloway. — Education,  Scientific  and  Technical.     Triibner,  1881. 
Magnus. — Industrial  Education.     Kegan  Paul,  1888. 
Compayre,  G—  The  History  of  Pedagogy.     Translated  by  W.  H.  Payne,  M.  A . 

Swan  Sonnenschein,  1888. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  169 

PHYSICAL,  MUSICAL,  AND  INFANT  TRAINING. 

Watkins,   A. — Singing  in    Elementary  Schools :    a    course    of    lectures. 

J.  Curwen  &  Sons,  London,  1885,  8vo. 
Hoskins,  A.  B. — Singing  in  Schools.     A   complete  course   of  practical 

teaching.     Bemrose  &  Sons,  London,  1885,  8vo. 
Moore,   H.   R. — Music    in    the   Kindergarten.       Sonnenschein,    London, 

1881,  8vo. 
Goldammer,  H. — The  Kindergarten.     Williams  &  Norgate,  London,  1882, 

8vo. 
Lofving,   Concordia.  —  Physical  Education,  and  its    place    in    system   of 

Education.     Sonnenschein,  London,  1882,  8vo. 

Leng's  Swedish  Gymnastics  for  Schools.     Hachette,  London,  1885,  8vo. 
Shirreff,    Emily. — The    Kindergarten.      Principles  of    Froebel's   System. 

Sonnenschein,  London,  1883,  8vo. 
Essays    on    the    Kindergarten    delivered    before    the    Froebel    Society. 

Sonnenschein,  London,  1880,  8vo. 
Philip's  Music  Series.     Philip  &  Son. 

(See  also  "  Switzerland,"  p.  166.) 


A    FEW    EDUCATIONAL    JOURNALS. 

GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. 

London. — The  School  Guardian. 

„          The  School  Board  Chronicle. 

„          The  Schoolmaster. 
Edinburgh. — Educational  News. 
Dublin. — Irish  Teachers'  Journal. 

GERMANY,  AUSTRIA,  AND  SWITZERLAND. 

Aachen  (Aix-la-Chapelle). — Rheinisch-Westfalische  Schulzeitung. 
Baden-Baden. — Badische  Fortbildungsschule. 
Berlin. — Deutsche  Schulzeitung. 

„         Xeue  Deutsche  Schulzeitung. 

„         Preussische  Schulzeitung. 

„         Zeitschrift  fiir  Gewerblichen  Unterricht. 

„        Deutsche  Lehrerzeitung. 
Bern. — Berner  Schulblatt. 

Breslau. — Katholische  Schulzeitung  fiir  Norddeutschland. 
Budapest. — Ungarischer  Schulbote. 
Dresden. — Padagogische  Studien. 
Elberfeld. — Der  Kinderfreund. 
St.  Gallen.—Amtliches  Schulblatt. 
Hamburg. — Padagogische  Reform. 
Hanover. — Han.  Schulzeitung. 
Innsbruck. — Tiroler  Schulfreund. 


I/O  STATE    EDUCATION. 

Leipzig. — Sachsische  Schulzeitung. 

„          Allgemeine  deutsche  Lehrerzeitung. 

(And  many  more  excellent  educational  journals.) 
Mannheim. — Neue  Badische  Schulzeitung. 
Prag. — Beseda  ucitelska. 
Stuttgart.— Die  Volksschule. 
Vienna. — Die  Volksschule. 

„          (Esterreichischer  Schulbote. 

„          Die  Burger  Schule. 

„          Niedercesterreichische  Schulzeitung. 
Zurich. — Schweitzerisches  Schularchiv. 

„         Die  Praxis  der  Schweiz  :  Volks  u.  Mittelschule. 

OTHER  CONTINENTAL  CITIES  AND  TOWNS. 

Amsterdam. — Het  nieuwe  Schoolblad. 
Copenhagen. — Dansk  Laedeforenings  Medlemsblad. 
Paris. — Le  Journal  des  Instituteurs. 

„        L'Ecole  des  Communes. 
Rome. — La  Scuola  elementare. 
Stockholm. — Svensk  Lareretidning. 
Warsaw.— Swiat  (The  World). 

UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA. 

Boston. — Journal  of  Education. 
Chicago. — School  Herald. 
Cincinnati. — Academica. 
Indianopolis. — School  News. 
Milwaukie. — Erziehungs  Blatter. 
Montreal. — Educational  Record. 
New  York. — School  Journal. 

„  El  Educador  Popular. 

„  College  Mercury. 

Quebec.  —Journal  de  1'Instruction  Publique. 
San  Francisco. — Pacific  School  Journal. 
Toronto. — Canada  School  Journal. 


INDEX. 


ABERDEEN  University,  53 

Act,  Education,  of  1870... 30,  32-34 

—  Educational  Endowments,  of  1882... 

52,53 

—  Scotch  Education,  of  1872... 49 
Acts,  Education,  30 

-  Factory,  41,  42 

Eeformatory  and  Industrial  Schools, 

41,  42 
Adam,  Mr.,  Keport  on  indigenous  village 

schools  of  Bengal,  5 
Almsgiving  in  India,  19,  20 
Andrews,  St.,  University,  53 
Argyllshire,  Scarcity  of  Schools  in,  46 
Armstrong,  Lord,  on  education,  135 

On  manual  training,  142 

Arnold,  Matthew,  On  English  and  Conti- 
nental Schools,  134,  135 

Auckland,  Lord,  and  State  Education  in 

India,  5 
Australia,  Boards  of  Advice  in,  110 

Education  in,  109-111 

Education  Department  in,  powers 

of,  109,  110 

•  Pupil  teacher  system  in,  111 

-  South,  Education  not  free  in,  109 
West,  Education  not  free  in,  109 

Australian     Colonies    essentially    demo- 
cratic, 109 

BACHELLERY,   Madame,  and   her    High 

Schools  for  girls,  121 
Banking  in  India,  23 
Barnard,  Dr.  Henry,  102 
Bartlett,  Kev.  Miss  Carrie  J.,  130 
Belgium,   School    attendance    not    com- 
pulsory in,  78 

Schools  in,  and  religious  instruc- 

tion, 74,  75 

Benares,  Sanskrit  College  at,  founded,  3 
Bengal,  Effects  of  State  Education  in,10-12 

Hindus  in  public  offices  in,  8,  9 

Mr.  Adam's  Keport  on  indigenous 

village  schools  of,  5 
Bengalis,  The,  11,  12,  18,  19 
Blanche  of  Castille,  117 
Boards  of  Advice  in  Australia,  110 
Bombay  Education  Society,  4 
Bonaparte  decrees   primary  schools    for 

boys,  120 

"  Book  of  Policy,"  45 
Boston,  Girls'  English  High  School  at,  94 


Boston,  Girls'  Latin  High  School  at,  94 

English  High  School  at,  93 

Latin  High  School  at,  93 

British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  26 

Columbia,  Education  compulsory 

in,  108 

.      Education  free  in,  108 

Bryn  Mawr  University,  130 
Buddhist  Monasteries  and  education,  3 
Building  grants   in   Ireland,  Difficulties 
regarding,  60 

CALCUTTA,  Hindu  College,  4 

Sanskrit  College,  founded,  4 

School  Society,  4 

Canada,  All  teachers  adults  in,  108 

—  Education  in,  105-109 

-  Education  in,  under  provincial 

and  local  control,  106 
— -    Normal  Schools  in,  supported  by 
the  Provincial  Government,  108 

—  Pupil-teacher  system   unknown 

in,  108 

Carnot's  scheme  of  National  Education,'120 
Chicago,  Female  Medical  College  at,  130 
Code,  Changes  required  in  the,  141 

New,  for  1890... 146-154 

-    Assistant  teachers,  152 

Certificated  Teachers,  152 

— -    Class  Subjects,  148 

—  Evening  Schools,  153 

-  Examinations  of  Scholars, 

149 

—  General  Conditions  of,  146, 

147 

—  Grants,  149,  150 

Manual  Instruction,  148 

-  Military  Drill,  148 

—  Physical  Exercises,  148 

—  Pupil  Teachers,  150,  151 
Small  Schools,  153,  154 

—  Staff,  150 

Subjects    of    Instruction, 

147,  148 

-  Training  Colleges,  152, 153 

-  Revised,    introduced     by     Mr. 

Lowe,  29 

—  Scotch,  50,  51 

Colleges,    Denominational    Training,     in 
Ireland,  70 

Training,     under     Code     1890, 

152,  153 


172 


INDEX. 


Common    School  open  to  all   classes  in 
United  States.  86 

System  in  America,  83 

Universal  in  United  States,  84,  85 

Condorcet  recommends  Secondary  State 

Schools,  120 
Convent   Boarding-schools    for    Girls  in 

France,  122 

Cyr,   St.,   Limits    of    age,  and  subjects 
taught  at,  119 

Racine  at,  119 


DALHOUSIE,      Lord,     and     Vernacular 
Schools,  5,  6 

Measures  of,  for  development  of 

India,  12 
Deaf  and   Dumb  Training  in  England, 

156, 157 
Denmark,  Gratuitous  Instruction  in,  78, 79 

Eeligious  Instruction  in  Schools,75 

Deraismes,  Maria,  128 

Desrandes,  Abbe,  and  his  Scheme  for 
Public  Instruction.  119 

Diane  de  Poitiers,  118 

Dupanloup,  M..  and  his  articles  in  Le  Cor- 
respondent, 124 

Duruy,  M.,  and  the  Education  of  Women, 
124,  125 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  and  Education,  3 

Edinburgh  University,  53 

Education,  Commercial,  in  England,  112- 

115 
Commission  of  Lord  Ripon,  13-18 

-  Department  in  Australia,  Powers 

of.  109,  110 

Elementary,  English  and  Con- 
tinental Systems  compared, 
74-81 

Elementary,  in  England,  26-43 
Elementary,    in    England    con- 
trasted with  other  Countries,  31 
Elementary,  in    England,  First 
grant  by  Parliament  in  aid  of,  2  7 
Elementary,  in  Scotland,  44-45 
English     and     United     States' 
Systems  of,  compared,  82-104 

-  Female  in  India,  16, 17 

-  Free,  in  Ireland,  72,  73 
Gratuitous,  in  England,  157, 158 
in  Canada,  105-109 

in  Australia,  109-111 
Lord  Armstrong  on,  135 
Modern,  in   India  and  Ancient 
Civilisation,  1-24 


Education,  National,  in  Ireland,  56-73 

National,    in    Ireland,    and   its 

results,  57-60 
Professor  Huxley  on,  135 

-  State,    destroys    Musalman    in- 

fluence in  India,  7,  8 
State,  Immediate  effects  of,  in 
India,  7 

-  State,  in  Bengal,  Effects  of,  10- 

12 

-  State  Board  of,  in  United  States, 

Function  of,  85 

-  State  Boards  of,  in  United  States, 

83,84 

-  Technical,  in  England,  80 
England,  Absence  of  physical  training  in 

schools  of,  79,  80 

-  Board  Schools  in,  and  religious 

instruction,  34,  35,  76 
Church  of  England  Schools  and 
religious  instruction,  76 

-  Commercial  Educationin. 112-115 
Deaf  and  dumb  training  in,  156> 

157 

-  Elementary  Education  in,  26-43 

-  Grammar  Schools  in,  25,  26 

-  Gratuitous  education  in,  78,  79, 

157,158 

Roman  Catholic  Schools  in,  and 

religious  instruction,  76,  77 

School  attendance  compulsory  in. 

78 

Training  Schools  in,  81 

Technical  Education  in,  80 

English  language  the  medium  of  higher 

instruction  in  India,  6 

FEMALE  artists  in  America,  131 

-  education  in  India,  16,  17 
Foreign  correspondents  in  England,  113 
France,  Convent  boarding-schools  for  girls 

in,  122 

Instruction  gratuitous  in,  78 

-  Manual  instruction  in,  142 

Manual  technical  instruction  in 

Primary  Schools  of,  80 
Religious  instruction  in  schools, 
75,76 

Salaries  of  teachers  in,  127 

School    attendance    compulsory 

in,  78 

Statistics  of  women  employed  on 

railways,  <fcc.,  128 

System  of  inspection  in,  140 

Three  grades  of  inspectors  in,  140 

Women  in,  116-128 

Froebellian  system  in  United  States,  87 


INDEX. 


173 


GEORGE  HERIOT'S  Hospital,  53 
Germany  and  gratuitous  instruction,  78 
— -    and  religious  instruction,  74 

-  and  trade  schools,  80 

School  attendance  compulsory  in, 

77 

Gladstone,  Dr.,  statistics  of,  136 
Glasgow  University,  53 
Gordon's  College,  Aberdeen,  53 
Grant,  Municipal,  in  Canada,  107 
Grants  to  schools  in  England,  36-38 

•  under  Code  1890... 149,  150 
Guizot,  and  his  bill  for  primary  instruc- 
tion, 121 

Gupta,  Mr.  Das,  16 


HASTINGS,  WARREN,  establishes  the  Cal- 
cutta Madrasa,  3 
Hindu,  Position  of,  20,  21 

—  Society,  moral  changes  at  work.20,21 
Hinduism,  Modern,  character  of,  19 
Hindus,  The,  in  public  offices,  8,  9 

Progress  of  the,  in  industrial  life, 

21-23 

Hutcheson's  Schools,  Glasgow,  53 
Huxley,  Professor,  on  Education,  135 


INDIA,  Almsgiving  in,  19,  20 

Ancient  civilisation  and  modern 

education  in.  1-24 

Banking  in,  23 

Committee  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, 4 

English  Language  the  medium  of 
higher  instruction  in,  6 

English  rule  in,  1-3 

Female  education  in,  16,  17 

Immediate  effects  of  State  Edu- 
cation in,  7 

Indian  National  Congress,  18 

Lord  Dalhousie  and  Vernacular 
Schools,  5,  6 

Musalman  influence  destroyed 
by  State  Education  in,  7,  8 

Keligion  in,  19 

-  Secondary  Schools  in,  6 

Sir  Stafford  Northcote's  despatch , 
the  Charter  of  Education  in,  5 

Standards  of  the  pass-examina- 
tion in  Universities  of,  15,  16 

-  Statistics  of  School  Attendance 

in,  6,  7 

Statistics  of  Universities  in,  15 

Vernacular  Schools  the  founda- 
tion of  Public  Instruction,  5 

Inspection,  System  of,  in  France,  140 


Inspectors  in  France,  140 
Inverness-shire,  Scarcity  of  schools  in,  46 
Ireland,  Agricultural  Schools  in,  71,  72 

Building  Grants  in,  difficulties 

regarding,  60 

-  Compulsory  School  Attendance 

in,  72 

Denominational    Training   Col- 
leges in,  70 

Free  Education  in,  72,  73 

-  Model  Schools  in,  71 

—  Monitorial  System  in,  69 

—  National  Education  in,  56-73 

National  Education  in,  and  its 

results,  57-60 

-  Organisers  of  Schools  appointed, 

69 
Pay  of  Teachers  in,  63,  64 

Protestant  Charter  Schools  esta- 

blished, 56 

Protestant  Diocesan  Schools  esta- 

blished, 56 

-  Queen's  Scholars  in,  69,  70 
Results-Fees,  Scale  of,  67,  68 

-  Results  System  in,  66 

-  School  Books  in,  difficulties  re- 

garding, 60 
•     School  Books  in,  supply  of,  70, 71 

-  School  Inspection,  62,  63 

—  School  Management  in,  61,  62 

Training  of  Teachers  in,  69,  70 

Italy,  Attendance  compulsory  in  Schools,78 

Instruction  gratuitous,  78 

Religious  instruction  in  Schools, 

75 


JEWS,  Female  education  advanced  in 
France  by  the,  125 

KANSAS  gives  municipal  rights  to  women, 

129 

Kildare  Place  Society,  57 
Kindergarten,  Advanced,  142,  143 

Mr.  Ricks'  exercises  for,  143 

System  in  United  States,  87 

LAKANEL'S  scheme  of  national  education, 
120 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  26 

Lancastrian  Society,  26 

Lexington,  First  State  Normal  School 
established  at,  101 

Limonnier,  Madame,  122,  123 

London  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Com- 
mercial Education,  114 


174 


INDEX. 


Louis  Philippe,  No  primary'  State  instruc- 
tion for  girls  under,  121 
Lyceums,  Girls',  126 

MACAULAY,  Lord,  Minute  of  1835,  4 
Maintenon,  Madame  de,  founds  St.  Cyr, 

119 
Manitoba,  Education  compulsory  in,  108 

Education  free  in,  108 

Manual  training,  159-161 

Advantage  of.  141 

in  France,  142 

-  Lord  Armstrong  on.  142 

Objectors  to,  142 

Marathas,  The,  10,  11,  18,  19 

Mayo,    Lord,   and    his    de-centralisation 

scheme  of  Finance,  12,  13 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Helena,  Princess 

of,  121 

Medici,  Catherine  de,  118 
Monitorial  System  in  Ireland,  69 
Montreal,  Education  not  free  in,  108 

-     Schools  in,  106 
Mosques  and  education,  3 
Musulman  influence  in  India  destroyed  by 

State  education.  7,  8 


NATIONAL  Society,  26 
New  Brunswick,  Education  not  compul- 
sory in,  108 

Schools  in,  unsectarian,  107 

Newcastle's,  Duke  of,  Commission,  Report 

of,  29 
New  South  Wales,  Education  not  free  in, 

109 

New  Zealand,  Education  free  in,  109 
Northcote's,   Sir   Stafford,  despatch,  the 

Charter  of  Education  in  India,  5 
Norway,     Attendance     compulsory     in 
schools,  77,  78 

Instruction  gratuitous,  78 

Religious  instruction  in  schools, 

75 
Nova  Scotia,   Education  compulsory  in, 

108 
Education  free  in,  108 


ONTARIO,  Education  compulsory  in,  108 
Education  free  in,  107 


PAEIS,  Females  in  Medical  schools  of,  126 

T the     heaven    of     the    Primary 

schoolmistress,  128 


Paris,  Technical  Schools  for  girls  in,  122 
Payment  on  results,  and  Technical  Edu- 
cation, 133-145 

Evils  of,  36-38 

Philadelphia,  High  School   for  Girls   at. 

101 

Women's  Guilds  in,  129 
Prince  Edward  Island,  Education  compul- 
sory in,  108 
Education  free  in,  108 
Public    Instruction.     Committee    of.    in 

India.  4 

Pupil- Teacher  system  introduced  in  Eng- 
land. 28 
Pupil-teachers  under  Code.  1890,  150,  151 


QUEBEC,  Education  not  compulsory 
108 

Education  not  free  in,  108 

Queensland,  Education  free  in,  109 
Queen's  scholars  in  Ireland,  69.  70 

-    scholarships,  39,  40 
Quinet,  Edgar,  121 


RACINE  at  St.  Cyr,  119 
Religion  in  India,  19 

Religious  instruction  in  Belgian  Schools, 
74,  75 

in  Board  Schools  in  England,  34, 

35,  76 
—    in  Church  of  England  Schools,  76 

—  in  Danish  Schools,  75 

in  French  Schools,  75,  76 

in  German  Schools,  74 

—  in  Italian  Schools,  75 

in  Norwegian  Schools,  75 

-  in    Roman   Catholic  Schools   in 

England,  76,  77 

-  in  Swedish  Schools.  75 

in  Swiss  Schools,  74 

Ricks',  Mr.,  exercises  for  advanced  Kin- 
dergarten, 143 

Ripon,  Lord,  Education  Commission  of, 
13-18 


SCHOOL  Attendance  Committees.  41 

Attendance  in  Belgium  not  com- 

pulsory. 78 

Attendance  compulsory  in  Eng- 
land, 78 

-    Attendance  compulsory  in  France, 
78 

Attendance  compulsory  in   Ger- 

many, 77 


UNIVERSITY 


INDEX. 


175 


School  Attendance  compulsory   in   Ire- 
land, 72 

Attendance  compulsory  in  Italy, 

78 

Attendance  compulsory  in  Nor- 

way, 77,  78 

Attendance  compulsory  in  Swe- 

den, 77 

• Attendance  compulsory  in  Swit- 
zerland, 78 

Attendance    compulsory    in  the 

United  States,  96 

Attendance  in  India,  statistics  of, 

6,  7 

Boards  in  England,  33-35 

Boards,  City,  in  United  States,  84 

-    Books     in     Ireland,    difficulties 

regarding,  60 

Books  in  Ireland,  supply  of,  70, 71 

Common,  in  America,  83 

Common,  in  United   States,  in- 

struction  confined   to  secular 
subjects,  97 

Common,  in  United  States,  open 

to  all  classes,  86 

High,  in  United  States,  rule  as  to 

admission,  90 

High,  in  United  States,  special 

studies  of,  92 

High,  in  United  States  and  in 

England,  contrasted,  92 

Inspection  in  Ireland,  62,  63 

Management  in  Ireland,  61-62 

Teachers  in  Ireland,  pay  of,  63, 

64 

Teachers  in  Ireland,  training  of, 

69-70 

Teachers  in  United  States,  train- 

ing of,  99-102 
Schools,  Agricultural,  in  Ireland,  71,  72 

Belgian,    and  religious  instruc- 

tion, 74,  75 

Board,  in  England,  cost  of,  35 

Burgh,  in  Scotland,  47 

Burgh,   in  Scotland,  defects  of, 

48,49 

-  Church  of  England,  and  religious 

instruction,  76 

Danish,    and    religious   instruc- 
tion, 75 

Day  Industrial,  in  England,  42 
—     Elementary,  in  Ontario,  free,  107 

English,    absence     of     physical 
training  in,  79,  80 

in  England,  grants  to,  36-38 

-  English  Board,  and  religious  in- 

struction, 34,  35,  76 


Schools,     English       and        Continental, 
Matthew  Arnold  on,  134,  135 

Evening,  under  Code,  1890... 153 

French,   and    religious    instruc- 

tion, 75,  76 

— -     German,  and  religious  instruc- 
tion, 74 

-  Grammar,  in  England,  25,  26 

-  Grammar,  in  Scotland,  45 

-  Grammar,  in   United  States,  87, 

88 

High,  in  Ontario,  free,  107 
High,  in  United  States,  88-95 

-  Higher,  in  Scotland,  51,  52 
Indigenous,  in  the  Punjab,  13 

-  Indigenous,    the     basis    of    the 

Dept.    of    Public    Instruction 
in  Lower  Provinces  of  India,  13 

Italian,  and  religious  instruction. 

75 

-  Model,  in  Ireland,  71 
Model,  in  Ontario,  free,  107 

-  Normal,  in  United  States,  100 

-  Norwegian,    and    religious     in- 

struction, 75 

Parish,  in  Scotland,  45-49 
Primary,  in  United  States,  87,  88 
Protestant  Charter  established  in 

Ireland,  56 
Protestant  Diocesan,  established 

in  Ireland,  56 

Question  of  free,  145 

Roman    Catholic,    in    England, 

and  religious  instruction,  76, 
77 

Secondary  in  India,  6 

— —     Secondary   State,   recommended 

by  Condorcet,  120 
.     Small,  under  Code,  1890... 153, 154 

-  Swedish,  and  religious  instruc- 

tion, 75 

-  Swiss,  and  religious  instruction, 

74 

—  Technical,  for  girls  in  Paris,  122 

-  Trade,  in  Germany,  80 

Training,  in  England,  81 

-  Truants,  in  England,  43 
Voluntary,  and  payment  by  re- 
sults, 139 

Science  teaching  in  schools,  143 

Importance  of,  135 

Scotland,  and  free  education,  55 

Burgh  Schools  in,  47 

Burgh  Schools 'in,  defects  of.  48, 

49 

—  Elementary  education  in,  44-55 

Grammar  Schools  in,  45 


INDEX. 


Scotland.  Gratuitous  instruction  in.  79 
—    Higher  Schools  in,  51,  52 
Parish  Schools  in,  45-49 

Schools  Inquiry  Commission  of 

1864... 48,  49 
Universities  of,  53,  54 
See,  Camille,  125 
Sevigne,  Madame  de,  118 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Know- 
ledge, 26 
State    Board    of     Education    in    United 

States,  function  of,  85 
Sweden,  Instruction  gratuitous  in,  78 

Keligious  instruction  in  schools, 

75 

School    attendance    compulsory 

in,  77 
Switzerland,  Instruction  gratuitous  in,  78 

Religious  instruction  in  schools. 

74 

School    attendance    compulsory 

in,  78 


TALLEYRAND,  and  his  scheme  for  public 

instruction,  119 

Tasmania.  Education  not  free  in,  109 
Teachers'  Institute  in  United  States,  101, 
102 

Salaries  of,  in  France.  127 

Technical  and  Secondary  Education,  As- 
sociation for  Promotion  of,  137 

Instruction,  133-145,  159-161 

Instruction,  Royal    Commission 

on,  1881... 133 

Schools  for  girls  in  Paris.  122 

Toronto,  University  of,  education  almost 

gratuitous  at,  108 
Training  Colleges  in  Ontario  free.  107 


UNITED    STATES,  Absence    of    physical 
training  in  schools  of,  79 

and   compulsory  school  attend- 

ance, 96 

and  English  systems  of  education 

compared,  82-104 

and  religious  school  instruction, 

98 

City  School  Boards  in,  84 

Common     Schools,    instruction 

confined  to  secular  subjects,  97 
—     Common  School  in,  open  to  all 
classes,  86 


United  States,  Common  School  system  in, 
83 

—  CommonSchool  universal  in,84,85 

-  Each  State  responsible  for  the 

education  of  its  population,  83 
Free  books  and  stationery  move- 
ment in,  96 
Froebellian  system  in,  87 

-  Grammar  Schools  in,  87,  88 
High  Schools  in.  88-95 

High  Schools  in,  rule  as  to  ad- 
mission. 90 
High  School  in,  special   studies 

of,  92 
High  School  in,  and  in  England 

contrasted,  92 

Instruction  gratuitous  in,  95 
Kindergarten  system  in,  87 
Normal  Schools  in,  100 
Primary  Schools  in,  87,  88 

State  Boards    of  Education  in, 

83,  84 

State  Board  of  Education,  func- 

tion of,  85 
Teachers'  Institute  in,  101,  102 

—  Training  of  Teachers  in,  99-102 
Universities  in    India,  standards  of  the 

pass- examination,  15,  16 

Statistics  of,  15 

VEENACULAK  Schools  in  India  the  foun- 
dation of  Public  Instruction,  5 
Victoria,  Education  free  in,  109 

WAHABI  State  Trials,  9 
Watson's  College,  Edinburgh,  53 
Women,  and  the  French  Revolution,  119 
Education  and  status  of,  116-132 
Employed  in  Journalism,  131 
Guilds  in  Philadelphia,  129 
in  France,  116-128 
Medical  College  at  Chicago,  1 30 
Municipal  rights  in  Kansas,  129 

Statistics  of  employment  of,  in 

France,  128 

Suffrage  in  United  States,  129 

Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  129 
Wyoming,  Territory  of,  Woman's  Suffrage 

in,  129 

YOLANDE,  Queen  of  Sicily.  117 
Young's,  Lord.  Scotch  Education  Act  of 
1872.. .49 


FINIS. 


BRADBURY,    AONEW,    &   CO.,    PRINTERS,    WHITEFRIARS. 


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